Mafia Row
by Phantom Hitman 1412
Summary: Welcome to Mafia Row, where normal criminals fear to tread. When the Strongest and Highest Ranked House get a new addition, why does it seem as if the mood has lightened? Parental!Arcobaleno now including Bermuda. Involves nearly every Mafia Family too.
1. The First Step

Introduction.

The First step…

Welcome one and all to Mafia Row. Now depending on whom you ask about who lives here, you may get told that some very scary people live here.

"If you don't stop looking at me like that, you won't have any eyes to be able to look at me with for much longer."

Others might tell you that some of the people living here are actually very nice.

"Now, that's not the way to talk. So how about we leave you alone so you can sort things out?"

However, one thing that EVERYONE who you ask will say is that the people living here are all very weird.

"You're going to have to pay me to leave this room now."

Mafia Row is home to some of the most… unusual, people around.

"I agree. Maybe I need to run some tests to see if he truly is the man we think he is."

People from all over the world live here. There is a broad range of cultures and languages. And no one really cares about that. In general there is peace here and everything is calm.

"I highly doubt that that is necessary. We should be glad that we are seeing this side of him. Peace is something so rare these days."

But the odd argument does appear. And there are always the losers…

"Nope, I agree with him. I don't think that is Sempai infront of us."

… and the winners. Okay, maybe arguments are quite frequent here. But that's to be expected.

"And why should we care what you think lackey?"

For it can be very hard for people who are so different, yet all the same, not to fight. It's just what happens.

"That was a pathetic kick. Didn't I train you better than that?"

So. Welcome to Mafia Row. We hope that you enjoy (and survive) your stay.

_The Mafia Row Committee is not responsible for any accidental deaths, injuries or recruitments that may occur during your stay. Thank you._

* * *

><p><strong>So, any ideas on who lives in this house?<strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 03 March 2012**

**Edited 27 February 2013**


	2. Is usually the easiest

Chapter 2

Is usually the easiest

"Colonnello, you didn't need to kick Skull that hard." Lightly scolds Luce, helping Skull to stand.

"There are more important things to worry about Luce, than our family dynamic." Says Lal Mirch, flicking her head over in the direction of their current topic.

"If you guys keep talking like that, then I'll shoot you where you stand." Growls Reborn.

Everyone turns back to him, who is finally acting like normal again.

"I don't think you should let it get to you." Comments Fon, talking to Reborn "What's more important is what caused this change in you."

"Yeah, kora! What happened to the cold Hitman that you usually are? I've never seen an expression like that on your face." Questions Colonnello, walking over to Reborn.

Reborn shifts the package in his arms, unconsciously holding it tighter, as if protecting it.

"I think I know~!" Sings Luce, wagging her finger. "There is only one thing that can produce a change like this in a man." The others all look over, wanting the answer to the hardest puzzle presented to them yet.

Luce releases a bright smile, looking over at the bundle in the Hitman's arms.

"A child."

There is a collective gasp from the other Arcobaleno. Reborn and a child? Yeah right.

However, a small wiggle and a babyish gurgle reveal that she was right.

"Yes, I am currently holding onto a child. Do any of you have a problem with that?" Reborn asks, eyes glaring at each of them in turn. They all shake their heads, not wanting to face this man's wrath.

Viper smiles. "See I told you something interesting was going to happen on this mission Reborn. Now you owe me that money." She places her hands on her hips, a grin easily visible under her hood.

"Fine, it'll be in your account by tomorrow. But I hardly call this interesting. The mission was one of the most boring yet." Reborn sighs, shifting the bundle to one of his arms.

"I hardly believe in those powers of yours Viper, but I do agree that you were right." admits Verde. "This is an interesting turn of events."

"Reborn, let Mamma Luce take a look." she asks, holding her arms out pleadingly. Reborn sighs at the madness around him, and passes the baby into her arms.

"Reborn-sempai," carefully asks Skull, peeking around Luce for protection. "How did you of all people end up with a baby?"

"What do you mean by that?" Reborn asks. He takes aim and shoots Skull, grazing his upper arm, but making sure to aim as far away from the baby as possible.

"Out of all of us, you are the least likely to return home with an infant, I'm afraid Reborn." Explains Fon "Even Verde and Viper are more likely to return with a child than you are."

"Yeah, one to experiment on it and the other to gain money from them." Mutters Lal under her breath. Said people glare at her, even though it's the truth, but quickly return their gaze back to Reborn.

"Fine. It's not an amazing tale or anything…"

* * *

><p><em>Reborn slid around the corner after checking that no one was there. Without making a sound, he strode down the alleyway, eyes wary and on the lookout for any movement. Leon was a comforting weight in his hand. Finally he came to the next junction, and a smile formed on his face. This was too easy, he could hear the target from here.<em>

_Reborn had been hired to clean a company out. He could do missions like this in his sleep. The head of the company had found out that a few of his higher level members were stealing money and supplies from him. And being who they were, these supplies weren't exactly safe. Under the cover of their day job, this Mafia Family supplied their territory with drugs. These men however, were stealing the drugs from them, adding in sugar and a few other chemicals, before handing it out to street thugs. So not only were they making these drugs last longer, they were adding in chemicals that also made them more dangerous. The thugs felt higher than ever before, and became more violent and more of a nuisance than before. Most importantly, the Family's reputation was being tarnished. The Boss wasn't going to stand for that. So instead of leaving the job to his own hitmen, he had decided to hire outside of the Family, and Reborn was the perfect man for the job._

_He was on the last of the men he needed to kill. It was pouring with rain, a storm was about to arrive, and Reborn wanted nothing more than to go home. Not that he didn't like working in the rain; it covered his tracks, quietened the sounds of his footsteps and wiped away evidence._

_He gave Leon a gentle squeeze, silently asking if he was ready. A small shake in reply was returned before he took in a deep breath. Just as he was about to round the corner, a woman's scream echoed, followed by a crack of lightening and a rumble of thunder._

_Immediately, Reborn rounded the corner, gun at the ready. In front of him is the man he is looking for, a smoking gun in his hands. The shot must have been covered by the thunder. He was standing over a woman, blood pouring out of a hole in her forehead._

"_Ha, stupid woman. That's what she gets for crossing me. Fredrico, call the cleaners, they can get rid of the evidence before anyone else finds her."_

_Reborn stepped forwards, purposely smacking his heel on the pavement. Both men whirled around, pale._

"_I-It's R-R-Reborn!" stuttered the target._

"_Romain Feirro. You've been a naughty boy." Smirked Reborn, gun calmly aiming directly at the man, not wavering in the slightest. Romain paled even further, visibly shaking like a leaf. His eyes were wide, his breathing was deep and laboured, and it's all the man can do to take a step backwards and away from the threat._

"_You've betrayed your Family, and I don't like that. Your Boss is disappointed in you, and can no longer find forgiveness in his heart." Reborn prowled forwards, looking like a panther stalking his prey. His shoulders were back and his chin was raised, showing that he had the upper hand, and he knew it._

_Fredrico wasn't staying here, not with the famous Hitman Reborn. He would rather be anywhere than here. Hell, even prison was better. He turned on his heels and sprinted down the alleyway, shoes splashing in the rain._

_One shot zoomed down the alley and Fredrico fell to the floor, the bullet cutting through the muscle of his calf. Not caring how silly he looks, the man crawled away, determined to save his life._

_Reborn loves it when they run; it's so much more interesting. He walked past the frozen target and towards the man on the floor. With one swift kick, the man is flipped onto his back, and Reborn stared down at him._

"_You're a part of this too." He smiled. The man violently shook his head._

"_Please don't kill me," pleaded Fredrico, trying to push himself back up. "I didn't do anything wrong!"_

_Reborn rose an eyebrow "Oh really?" The man nodded, whimpering at the same time._

"_I didn't want anything to do with this!" explained the man. Reborn growled and shot the man's arm._

"_Then why is that woman dead, yet you are unharmed?" he asked, shooting a different part of the man's leg. The man screamed at the two new blossoms of pain. "If you didn't want anything to do with this, then why are you here? Even being a bystander makes you involved. You didn't even try to stop him."_

_Romain freed himself from his frozen state. It was easier to do so with the Hitman behind him. He didn't have to look at those __**dead **__eyes that way. He didn't care about Fredrico. At the moment he was a distraction, and a chance to let him escape. His partner didn't have any more worth than that. So he ran._

_Not that he got more than two steps._

_The moment he moved, Reborn raised his arm, eyes still locked with Fredrico's on the floor, and shot the man, right through the head. Just like he had done to the woman slumped next to him._

"_And then there was one." Reborn smiled, all teeth._

"_He-He He was your target right? Then you don't need to kill me!" whined Fredrico._

_Reborn though had had enough and was considering killing the man just to shut him up. But as the next flash of lightening and rumble of thunder came, a new noise was heard. The crying of a baby._

"_You killed a woman carrying a child?" Reborn said, voice as cold as ice, and just as sharp. Fredrico didn't even have time to answer before a bullet ended his pathetic existence._

"_Men should always protect women, and children especially." He said to the lifeless corpse._

_The crying persisted before changing to a half-cry half-laugh. Reborn looked over to the woman on the floor next to the wall, and saw two little hands reaching for their mother. These hands touched her face, covering themselves in the blood, before drawing lines and circles along her white face. It seemed as if the child liked the colours, but not the reaction he was getting from his mother._

_Reborn strode over to the body and picked the baby up. Turning it to face him, he was met with the largest, brightest and deepest brown eyes he had ever seen. The baby stopped making a noise and stared deeply at Reborn, before a smile broke out onto his face and the baby cried in joy. Reborn had the strangest feeling, as if the boy had looked right into his soul. The child reached out for the older male, trying to paint his face pretty colours too. Reborn was shocked for a moment. No child had ever had this reaction before. They always cried and tried to get away from him._

_Leon climbed onto his shoulder and ran down his arm to examine the boy. The baby stopped laughing and stared at the chameleon in interest, before very gently patting it on the head, avoiding spreading anymore of the red 'paint' on it. Leon rubbed his head against the hand, before scuttling back down Reborn's arm and settling himself back on his Master's head. Reborn took out a handkerchief and cleaned the boy's hands before settling him in the crook of one arm._

_He turned away from the three bodies, before making two phone calls. One was to his contractor, telling the man the job was done and where to pick up the last of the bodies. The second was to a personal contact, asking for the woman's body to be buried properly. Leon changed back before making his way across Reborn's shoulder and sat on the baby's stomach. Reborn looked at the small child to see that he was asleep. Gently he brushed away a few soaked strands of brown hair, before continuing on his way home._

_Once home, he found a new blanket for the baby, and wrapped him up, before changing out of his own sodden clothes. He went to the living room and sat on the sofa, the child held in both arms. Reborn looked down at the tiny life before him, and was shocked to feel a smile tugging at his mouth. The baby stirred, snuggling closer to the warmth before going back to sleep. Reborn couldn't hold it back any longer, and a gentle smile brushed his face._

_That just happened to be the moment that the rest of the Arcobaleno entered the room. Seeing the smile on his face, they all froze. They didn't even know Reborn could smile like that. Eyes widened and jaws dropped and Reborn looked up. Not liking the stares, he shifted, and unconsciously brought the child closer to his chest. Feeling the movement, the baby awoke and cutely yawned. Reborn looked down at that moment, and another unwanted smile snuck on his face. He brought the blanket up around the child more, keeping him warm._

_Unknowingly he had also hidden the child further from sight. None of them knew what Reborn was holding, apart from something wrapped in a blanket. The yawn had been so small and quiet, that they hadn't heard it. Thoughts ran through their minds as to what it could be. Most assumed it was Leon, since the Chameleon was not on Reborn's hat as usual. Some even thought it might be a new gun that had gotten wet from the rain. It would explain the smile, and the blanket could be for drying it off…_

_Reborn looked back up, and growled, "If you don't stop looking at me like that, you won't have any eyes to be __able__ to look at me with for much longer."_

* * *

><p><strong>The Phantom is back with a new multi-chapter fic. Apart from my main fic- a DC X Reborn crossover called How a thief changed the Mafia- I've only done one shots. So I decided to do a new story. And my main fic is quite serious in places (and will be getting more so), so I wanted a light fic to work on too. I know that this bit is serious, but the fun is just around the corner- or should I say down the street.<strong>

**I love the Arcobaleno, especially Colonnello, Viper and Verde. I think that they don't get enough attention- especially Verde- so I'm writing this.**

**Hope to see you next time**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 06 March 2012**

**Edited 27 February 2013. **


	3. It's the second step

Chapter 3

It's the second step

Luce sniffs, "That's so sad. The poor child."

The baby reaches up for her, as if wanting to wipe the tears away. Luce looks down at the cutest face she has seen in years and her mood immediately brightens. "Gah! He's so cute," and presses him against her bosom.

"Luce, you're suffocating the poor child." Warns Verde before taking the child out of her hands.

The baby looks up and stares right into his eyes. He tilts his head as if thinking, before a bright smile lights up his face. Verde seems stunned by this, and just continues to stare at the child. It yawns once again, before reaching his arms towards Verde. Complying with the wish of the child (he doesn't know why but he feels compelled to) he brings the child to his chest, holding him in the crook of an elbow like Reborn was doing earlier. But the baby continues to reach out, seemingly for the opposite shoulder. So Verde changes the position of his hands, and holds the baby so it can rest it's head on his shoulder. The baby gurgles happily, before yawning again and falling asleep. Verde's lips twitch slightly, and a small smile finds its way onto the scientist's mouth.

The others all look at this child in wonder. It had made Reborn and Verde **smile**. And not in the confident way they do when something goes right and their prowess is on display for all to see, but a genuine smile.

"So what are we going to do with him?" asks Viper. "Babies cost money you know." She looks at the others, who have considering looks on their faces.

"Viper, I highly doubt that money is a problem. We are I Presceltei Sette- the Chosen Seven- and are known as the strongest people in our chosen fields. As such, we get the highest paying jobs, whether that be like Reborn does, or whether that be from patents on experiments like Verde does, or money from appearing on stage like Skull does, we all bring in rather large sums of money. In fact, we could all rather comfortably live just on what money Reborn brings in alone." Fon explains.

Viper huffs. _One can never have enough money. What if something goes wrong? What if there is an unexpected surprise… just like this child. They say money makes the world go round for a reason._

"What's his name kora?" Eyes open wide as the Arcobaleno look at each other, all wondering the exact same thing: What is his name? Even though it's a simple question, it's one that should have been asked long ago. It felt weird referring to the baby as him all the time. Eyes redirect themselves from Colonnello to Reborn.

"Hn, Tsunayoshi." Reborn states.

"What?" They all ask.

Reborn rolls his eyes. "It was on the blanket he was wrapped in. His mother named him that, not me."

"It'll do," comments Lal. She personally can't see the interest the others have in this child. "Come on Colonnello, you've still got training to do. I'd bet that even Skull could infiltrate a forest soundlessly better than you can."

"Yeah right. You need to get those perfect eyes of yours checked. Maybe you can't see through their sparkling very well." Teases Colonnello.

"How many times do I have to tell you?!" she shouts, giving Colonnello a good punch to the gut. He doubles over slightly. "Don't flirt with your teacher. Shall I make you run another thousand laps?" She grabs his ear and proceeds to drag him out of the room, their argument becoming louder and louder. Finally they leave, with Lal slamming the door behind her in her anger towards her pathetic excuse of a student.

Tsunayoshi wakes up at the slam and immediately starts to cry, scared of the loud noise. Verde visibly recoils and holds the baby out infront of him, looking at it in horror. It's not like he knows what to do with it. Science doesn't exactly teach you that.

"Oh for heaven's sake, give him here," growls Viper, gently removing the baby from his grasp. "You owe me for this." She glares. Verde just dumbly nods. She brings the crying child closer to her, before bouncing him slightly and making shushing noises. After a few moments the baby quietens. "There. It's not hard." She looks sidewards at Verde, a gleam in her eyes. "I could teach you, for a fee of course."

Verde scoffs and waves the offer off. However, Tsunayoshi still isn't entirely happy. Still scared, he snuggles closer to the warmth of Viper, grabbing her robe. Feeling the tug she looks down, and holds the baby even closer.

Skull tip-toes over and peers down at the baby in Viper's arms. The baby moves his head from against Viper's chest to look at this new person. Again, there is a rather analytical stare, before the baby smiles. Skull brings up one of his wrists and turns it from side to side. The bracelets he has on jangle, creating a chiming sound. No longer scared, Tsunayoshi's face lights up, and a happy cheer escapes his throat, accompanied by clapping hands.

Deciding to see what all the noise is about, and why his Mistress's heart beat has sped up, Fantasma crawls up and out of the robe and down her neck to sit on Tsunayoshi's stomach. Red eyes evaluate the new threat for his Mistress's attention. A red tongue flicks out and touches the baby's cheek. Viper taps Fantasma on the head. "Be nice to him." The frog couldn't care less and climbs back up her neck and back into her robe, settling into his usual place.

Luce looks around at the people she lives with and notices how happy they all look. Most of them are rather solemn people, and it's rare to see them acting like this. Determining that this is for the best, she announces her decision:

"We're keeping him."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm all glad that you thought Tsunayoshi was cute.<strong>

**See you all next time**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 12 March 2012**

**Edited on 27 February 2013**


	4. That's the hardest

Chapter 4

That's the hardest.

"Hn, **you** can keep him." Says Reborn, re-crossing his legs.

Verde agrees with Reborn. He doesn't need a child running around his lab and ruining his experiments. And it's not like any of them would let him experiment on the child either. There was no scientific gain from keeping this child, or retaining an interest in him. In fact, as far as Verde could see, there was only one reason to keep the child around. And that was to document the changes this child had incurred in those around him. Yes, he certainly would have to find the reason for this tightness in his chest. His mind supplied that this was surely a hormonal change brought around by parental instinct, nothing more… nothing more.

Whilst not verbally agreeing with the statement of this overly happy woman, Viper did tighten her grip on the baby. _When he's an adult, he can pay me back for all the money I spent on him… with interest._

Fon merely smiled, having no qualms whatsoever at the new addition to the household. This child would surely lighten up the atmosphere and calm these people down. Yes, he would be a positive influence in their lives.

Skull was ecstatic that the baby was going to stay. Finally someone who wouldn't bully him and say how useless he was or order him around every few moments. And he doubted that the baby could beat him up like his Semapi did either. He was rather looking forwards to looking after the baby. He liked children a lot, but had never had one of his own. Whilst he was a stunt man with multiple piercings and leather jackets, the women who typically frequented his events were not his type. They scared the living hell out of him to be totally honest. Yet there was nothing better than the feeling of the wind under him, of flying totally free in the sky. He revelled in the looks of awe and respect that was in the eyes of his audiences.

Luce smiles to herself before giving Reborn a knowing look. Reborn stares her down, eyes daring her to say what she's thinking. But for her, that look is enough and she decides not to say anything at all. It certainly would be interesting having a child in the house. Yes, a very interesting experience for them indeed. Luce was sure that it would help her housemates grow as people. All the evidence she needed was in the way they had already treated the baby. It wasn't dead yet, nor harmed in any way. Reborn had even brought the poor child home when he was under no obligation to. She had fully expected him to leave it out in the rain. It was reassuring that there was a human heart hidden inside the killing monster that was Reborn.

She knew personally that watching a child grow was a fun and happy experience with very few downsides and negative moments…

"Wahh!"

…Apart from that.

Little Tsunayoshi had started to cry.

All the men back away at the sudden noise, staring at the child as if it's an alien. _Had they never seen a crying child before? _Luce sighs. _Ha, stupid question Luce. _Luce steps over and joins Viper in looking down at the crying boy.

"L-Luce, why is he crying now? There were no loud noises to scare him like there was before." Enquires Skull. He peers over Viper's shoulder at Tsunayoshi and jangles his bracelets again. However there is no response from the child.

Luce looks over the child with experienced eyes.

Viper presses one fingertip to Tsunayoshi's forehead and closes her eyes.

"He needs changing." They both say at the same time.

"Viper… Where did that come from?" wonders Skull. He was positive that Viper had had no experience in dealing with children, let alone babies. And she certainly didn't seem like the motherly type. So how had she known? Luce at least was a mother herself.

Viper looks over her shoulder at Skull, before smirking, "That information is going to cost you."

Reborn smiles a confident smile. _Let the lackey waste his money over stupid questions. It was obvious that she used her psychic powers. Or wasn't he watching? Just because she didn't sneeze like with her Thoughtography doesn't mean she wasn't using her abilities. Has the Stunt man crashed one too many times and finally lost what little brains he has?_

"So what are we going to do?" asks Fon, ever the voice of reason and perpetual calm. "We can't let him keep on crying like this. The little one must be uncomfortable."

Luce nods in agreement. "Well, we don't have anything here with us. Oh, I know," and she raises one hand, "I'll go see Aria."

"Aria?" questions Reborn. "Why go see her?" Aria didn't have any children. Or at least she shouldn't have.

"Well, last time we spoke she said that little Nosaru had just been born. So they should have plenty of supplies at her house." That seemed reasonable. And with her decision made, Luce's out the house quicker than the others thought possible.

She's back even quicker. Knowing Luce they thought that she would have been gone the rest of the day, even though Aria's house was next door. Luce was a sociable woman and known for chatting for hours on end, especially with her daughter Aria. That she was back so quick was a show of her determination. She takes the baby out of Viper's stunned hands and places him into Reborn's equally stunned hands. Finally, she dumps a bag of supplies in Verde's arms before dragging Viper out of the room. Seeing the look on Reborn and Verde's faces, Skull and Fon quickly follow. But before he disappears Fon can't resist one quick "Good luck."

Tsunayoshi starts to cry louder, bringing attention back to him. The males sigh and resign themselves to their fate. It would be pathetic if people like them couldn't even change one baby.

A couple minutes later and Luce peers around the corner to check on their progress. The baby was on the table with the blanket unwrapped around him… and that was all.

Luce giggles. "Verde, do you need a manual?" Laughter comes from the kitchen. Verde gives one of his infamous glares, before pushing his glasses up his nose and staring down them at her. Reborn growls at the baby before lifting a hand to his fedora. Leon climbs on and starts to change form. At first Luce was worried that Reborn had had enough and was going to shoot the poor child. However, Leon changes into a knife and Reborn cuts the diaper off the baby. With one hand covering half her face, Luce shakes her head and exits the room.

"Your turn." claims Reborn holding out a baby wipe. Verde looks at the baby and analyses the remaining moves, before smirking and grabbing the wipe. Picking the child up by his ankles he cleans the baby, and shakes over some talcum powder. He takes the dirty nappy from Reborn and offers him a clean one.

"Your turn." he smiles far too sweetly. Reborn snatches the clean diaper and puts the baby's legs through it. But something was wrong. It wasn't fitting. And what were these tabs and pully bits for? Maybe they should get the instructions.

Later on, the two men proudly walk into the kitchen showing off their hard day's work: Tsunayoshi in a clean, fitting diaper. There are sarcastic claps all around. Reborn gets irritated and shoots Skull.

"Finally, I was about to check on you guys." says Luce. "Now for the next bit." And amazingly the others have all disappeared once again, leaving Reborn and Verde to deal with this mysterious next step.

"Verde come here," and he does. On the counter is a bottle, a tub filled with a white powder and the kettle. "Following the instructions on the box, make a bottle of milk."

Finally, something scientific he could do. He goes and gets the scales and measuring glasses, and almost instantly there is a bottle of milk in his hands.

"Reborn check the temperature. We don't want to burn his mouth." Following her guidance, Reborn checks to see if the milk is cool enough yet.

"Good Job." says Fon, snatching the bottle out of Reborn's hands. He then takes the baby out of Verde's and walks out of the kitchen to the living room.

After all that work, they weren't about to have it stolen by Fon! When they enter the living room, Tsunayoshi is quite happily drinking from the bottle, being held in Fon's arm.

Once Tsunayoshi is done, Fon picks him up and settles him over his shoulder. Patting him gently, he lets the baby burp. Finally, Tsunayoshi gives a cheer, happy once more.

The day follows in a similar cycle, with Lal and Colonnello soon introduced to the party. Lal had almost as much trouble as Verde and Reborn had. Colonnello seemed a natural though, and was happy to do any job. If it gave him a legitimate reason not to go train, well, no one was going to comment.

* * *

><p>A tired group of people trudged to bed that night. Luce had decided to keep Tsunayoshi in with her.<p>

But Tsunayoshi wasn't having that.

Once everyone was settled, Tsunayoshi started to cry once more. And no matter how much the mother tried, she couldn't seem to make him stop. Viper stomps in to see what's going on. Tsuna stops for a moment to look at her, before resuming his loud noise.

"I can't make him stop." Admits Luce looking worried.

Viper walks over and picks the baby up. At this point Fon and Skull peer around the doorframe to see what the noise is all about.

Placing a fingertip against his forehead, Viper closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. "Tsunayoshi, what's the matter?" she asks the baby.

"He… He doesn't want to… sleep in here… with you." She mumbles. Reading a baby's mind is not as easy as it may seem. It's not developed enough to be easily readable. It's more feelings than actual words Viper gets from him.

Luce looks disheartened. "Aww, he doesn't want to sleep with me?" Fon pats her on the shoulder.

"So who does he want to sleep with, kora?" They turn to see Colonnello, topless, standing in the doorway, blond hair ruffled.

Viper holds the baby closer, her face scrunched up in concentration. All eyes are on her, waiting for the divination. An eyebrow raises- not that they can see, but they can see her half smile sarcastically. And then she laughs. Full out laughs. Opening her eyes, she walks out of Luce's room, the crowd following her. Lal and Verde open their doors at the strange sound, and join the others in being surprised at Viper's laugh.

She walks to the end of the hallway and gestures for the others to go to their rooms. They do, but stand in the doorways. She nods in acceptance before placing Tsunayoshi on the floor, who still happens to be crying. Knocking on the door, she runs to her room and shuts the door, the others following her lead.

Hearing the knock, Reborn opens his door to find a crying baby infront of it.

He shuts the door.

But Tsunayoshi just starts to cry even louder than before and there is no way he can ignore that. The child even starts knocking against the door, demanding entrance. Leon looks at his master with wide eyes, almost pleading. Reborn sighs before opening the door once again. Upon seeing Reborn, Tsunayoshi stops crying and claps, letting out a happy gurgle. He reaches his hands up towards the Hitman. Reborn stares into those deep brown eyes for a moment, and can't help but let the child in. He didn't know what made him do it. He didn't even know why he brought the child home. If it was anyone else crying, he would have shot them in an instant, no mercy given. But he just couldn't, not to this child.

Reborn picks the child up and carries him over to his own king sized bed. Getting in, he settles the baby on the other side. Now extremely happy and perfectly content, Tsuna snuggles down and falls asleep almost instantly.

_This parenting thing is harder than I thought,_ Reborn admits to himself. He watches with a smile on his face as Leon sits on the other side of the boy, making sure that he can't roll off the bed during the night. Rolling over, he places one arm over the boy and Leon before falling asleep too. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day.

Reborn decides that he was going to do this right. He wasn't called the greatest for nothing. He was going to put his all into this too. For just like he always said:

_If you're going to do something, do it with your dying will._

* * *

><p><strong>As you may have guessed, the concept of time does not exist in this fic- and an even bigger example of that is just down the street- 3 doors down to be exact. Luce obviously is not pregnant either. And people's exact ages are going out the window. Since Nosaru was in his late teens in the future arc, he shouldn't technically be born yet, but this was a good reason for me to mention another house, and I wanted to start with this house in particular. Not that ages really matter in a fic like this. Main character's ages will be more controlled (for example, Yuni isn't born yet), but side characters like Nosaru will have their ages changed to suit what I need them to be.<strong>

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, you make me so happy. Yes, our little Tsuna is just so Kawaii; nearly every review says just how cute he is. A friend of mine was peering over my shoulder at the time since I was checking them at college, and I had to explain to him what Kawaii meant, since two different reviewers used it. Gya, I love you guys so much!**

**I hope you enjoyed todays visit.**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 15 March 2012**

**Edited: 27 February 2013**


	5. But once you start

Chapter 5

But once you start

Reborn awakes to a heavy feeling on his chest. Staying stock still as to not alert the person that he is awake, he opens one eye. He is met by a small bush of brown hair. Opening his other eye, he relaxes. It seems that during the night the baby had ended up on his chest. How Reborn wasn't sure, but he hoped it had nothing to do with the arm wrapped tightly around the boy.

Letting go, Reborn turns on his side, letting the child slide off and bounce gently against the bed. Amazingly Tsunayoshi doesn't wake up. Instead, he instinctively snuggles backwards until he's back against Reborn's chest. The tiniest smile escapes from Reborn's mouth before he catches himself. _What am I doing? I'm a hitman. I can't get attached to him. I'm a ruthless killer, an emotionless shadow in the dark. I'm not capable to look after something like him, to give him what he needs. I'm an assassin, not a father, and there's a reason for that distinction._

"LUCE!" Down the hall there's a thump, a few clatters and a bang, before footsteps sound and his door slams open too. Standing there is a dishevelled Luce, only in a nightdress since she didn't have time to put a dressing gown on. She looks around the room for the threat, before resting eyes on Reborn.

"Reborn," she gasps, still half asleep "What's the matter?" She looks down at Reborn's chest to see the baby, looking bewildered at the sudden range of loud noises. Reborn grabs the baby by the back of its clothing and holds it out for her to take. The baby claps at the swinging motion, enjoying the ride.

"Take it." Reborn growls, before literally throwing the baby at her. Luce scrabbles forwards and catches the child. Sighing now that Tsunayoshi is safe, she turns dangerous eyes to Reborn.

"Reborn, how dare you throw him like that! What if he had fallen? I can't believe that you would do something so irresponsible." She holds the baby tightly against her body and half turns, keeping the child as far away from Reborn as possible.

"I **am** dangerous Luce. The baby should learn that now and stay away from me." Luce's expression changes from mad to confused, but Reborn simply rolls over, his back to them. Leon stares at them for a moment, large eyes trembling and looking sad, before climbing over Reborn and out of sight.

She turns and walks out of the door, closing it behind her. Slowly she walks downstairs, wondering what's happening behind those blank eyes of Reborn's. Once in the kitchen, her body follows a routine not followed for nearly for nearly 20 years without her mind's agreement. Before she knows it, she's sat on the sofa, bottle of milk in her hands.

She blinks out of her thoughts when the load in her hands lightens. Turning, she sees that Fon has taken Tsunayoshi out of her arms and is calmly feeding him once again. She smiles at the sight, thinking how natural it looks. "You've gotten good at that." she admits.

Fon looks up and gives her a smile. "Well, you weren't doing a very good job of it." She looks stunned for a moment, so he elaborates. "You were staring into space, leaving this little one to try and feed itself."

"I was?" He nods. "Well, it's just Reborn. He brought Tsunayoshi home and everything, and he was even smiling at the child yesterday, but now, he doesn't want anything to do with him. He even threw the baby at me earlier."

"That's Reborn for you," says Fon, shaking his head. "Just give him time to adjust, and he'll be fine. Out of all of us, he's going to have the hardest time becoming a father."

"Luce, kora!" Comes a shout from the kitchen. "Ain't you started breakfast yet? I'm famished." Leaving the baby in Fon's capable hands, she walks into the kitchen and starts breakfast.

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><p>The atmosphere around the table couldn't be colder. Colonnello has taken custody of the child for the time being, keeping him entertained by bouncing him gently, whilst eating his meal at the same time. The others are trying to ignore the glares between Luce and Reborn, assuming that they are having yet another fight. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence and the others knew to stay well away from it. Luce would go out shopping or to see Aria, Reborn would go on a mission and be more ruthless than usual. They'd come back and act as if nothing happened. The usual. They hoped.<p>

And true to form, as soon as breakfast was finished, Luce stood up, leaving her plates on the table and left. 5 minutes later, the sound of the front door shutting could be heard. Tsunayoshi looks forlornly at the door, as if his favourite toy had just walked out. And 10 minutes after that, Reborn was nowhere to be found, leaving silently as usual.

A sigh of relief sounds through the house. Tsunayoshi still looks very sad.

All throughout the day, nothing they try and do cheers the child up. In fact, apart from eating and sleeping, Tsunayoshi doesn't do very much else at all. It's worrying for the others and without Luce they don't have a clue what to do.

At midday Viper finally emerges from her room and notices the strained atmosphere around her. Walking into the living room, she finds Skull lounging full length on his side on the sofa. The baby is laid on what little sofa remains. Skull is trying to entertain the baby with his bracelets since it worked yesterday, but the baby doesn't even react to them. Hearing her enter the room, both look up and Tsunayoshi immediately brightens up and reaches out for her. Sighing, she walks over and picks the child up. She'd rather do what it says than deal with the awful sound of crying. It's a lot quicker and simpler. Once in her arms, he turns to face her and starts crying.

"Oh no, not again. He's been doing that all day. The baby seems really depressed. Nothing we do cheers it up." Explains Skull, looking at the pair.

"I know," she growls. "It was him crying that woke me up." Skull gulps, waking Viper up is not a good idea. However instead of taking her anger out on Skull like usual, she sits down in an arm chair, brings her knees up, and settles the baby in the space between.

"You owe me money for waking me up." she warns the child. He simply keeps looking up at her with those huge chocolate eyes "I'll add it to your tab." She compromises and the babe smiles as if agreeing. Shaking off the feeling that Tsunayoshi really did understand, she places one fingertip on his forehead, and both close their eyes.

Skull watches on in fascination and secretly smiles at the bond between the two. It seems that Viper is more of a softie than she lets on. She's only ever like this with the baby, no one else. Keeping a close eye on her face, Skull sees that it changes; first she has half a smile on her face, which then changes to a scowl, outright shock then rage, before looking very sad herself.

Blinking away tears she opens her eyes. Skull looks at her with a dropped jaw, seeing the tears run down her cheeks. She growls at him, "Say anything and I'll take every penny you own," and Skull wouldn't put it past her. "Anyway, they're not mine but his." Oh, that made sense, Viper never cried.

"So, what's wrong with him?" asks Skull, looking down with concerned eyes.

"He wants Luce and Reborn to make up. And he wants Reborn to like him." She chuckles slightly. "God knows why. But it seems as if he likes Reborn the most out of all of us. Maybe likes is not the best word. He wants to… look after, no, he concerned, no that's not right." She lets out a deep sigh. "Well, it doesn't matter. That's for Tsunayoshi to know." She looks down at the child before sniggering again. "He says to pay up for knowing that."

Skull looks shocked. Tsunayoshi looks over to Skull and the stunt man swears there is an evil glint in his eyes- _Not the baby too!_ In a scrabble, Skull grabs his wallet and hands over a load of notes. The baby eagerly grabs them and cuddles them as if it's a stuffed toy. Skull runs out of the room in fright.

"What a good little boy you are. I'll take this off your tab okay."

* * *

><p>The moment Reborn comes home, Fon starts to attack him. Immediately, Reborn defends himself, but wonders what Fon is doing- Fon can hit harder than this, and he hasn't even aimed for any vital organs yet. Reborn finds his answer as he enters a room and the door is slammed infront of him.<p>

Looking around the room, all he sees is Tsunayoshi, bundled in a blanket on the table sleeping. Reborn tries to open the door, but it's firmly being held shut. And there are no windows to escape out of either. A little while later, the door opens and Luce is chucked into the room too. Reborn thought he saw blue hair through the gap in the door, meaning that Lal must have pushed her in. She did, she was fed up of the baby's crying and wanted it sorted out immediately, since none of the others would let her lecture or train the child into silence.

At that point, the baby on the table wakes up and makes a happy gurgling sound. He looks at the two of them as if it's the happiest thing he's ever seen. Then he looks between the two and keeps on doing so.

Outside, the others are trying to listen through the door with little luck. When a bullet comes through the door, they decide that it would be safer slightly farther away. A few minutes later, loud shouting can be heard. It's easy to tell who is who, but what they are saying exactly is impossible to determine. The shouting match gets louder and louder and eventually they are shouting over each other. Just as the others think they should interfere, someone else does.

Tsunayoshi lets out the loudest scream they have ever heard. They swear that the rest of Mafia Row can hear it. Needless to say, the shouting match stops. However, just as it starts up again- doubtless debating who caused the noise- there is another scream. There is about another twenty minutes of mumbling through the door, before everyone hears a happy cheer from the baby. The rest of the Arcobaleno sigh in relief.

Seeing the time, Fon walks over to the kitchen "I think I'll cook tonight."

By the time dinner is served, Luce and Reborn have come out of the room. Fon takes the baby out of Luce's arms since he can eat one handed and hold Tsunayoshi in the other.

"I wish I could have recorded that," says Verde. The others all look at him questioningly. "Document how a mere child stopped these two from fighting. I would add it to the data I have already complied," and he grins scarily.

"You're not experimenting on the child now are you Verde?" asks Lal. Whilst she has no interest in the child, even she wouldn't want it to be experimented on.

Verde shakes his head. "No, I value my life. I am merely documenting the changes this child has brought upon us all. It's certainly extremely interesting." Keeping their thoughts to themselves, the others can't help but agree. They have noticed the changes Tsunayoshi has brought in the others.

* * *

><p>When it's finally time for bed, after a fight over who was going to change Tsunayoshi, Luce takes him to her room. However, Tsunayoshi is determined to repeat last night.<p>

After a while of trying to get Tsunayoshi to be quiet, Viper storms in again. "You're disturbing me again," she growls at the child.

Luce is really distraught that the baby doesn't want to sleep with her. She's never had that happen before. Aria always wanted to sleep with her; in fact, she couldn't sleep without her mother by her side for quite a long time.

"Why doesn't he want to sleep with me?" she cries over dramatically. Luce can feel the glare come from under the hood, but ignores it. "Viper, why me?"

Viper holds out her hand expectedly. Luce sighs. "Transferred tomorrow, usual rate right?" The hand disappears back under the robe. "He says he'll get to you eventually."

"Eventually… what's he planning?" Luce asks, confused by the mind of the baby.

"Didn't we go through this last night, kora?" asks Colonnello, standing in the door way.

"Would you make him shut up!" shouts Lal, hands over her ears.

"Give me a second." Viper says, turning her attention back to the baby. "Well, what do you want?" she asks rudely. Well, she does have better things to be doing than standing here with a crying infant. After a moment, she looks down at the baby, eyebrow raised (not that the others can see) in disbelief.

"You certainly are a weird one." She tells the baby. He simply looks up and smiles, before waving at her to hurry up and starts crying again. Sighing she walks out of the door.

"So who is it tonight?" asks Fon from his doorway.

She stops outside of a green door. "Is he sure? He's not safe behind there," stutters Skull, worried for the baby's safety.

"Well, he's not going to stop crying until he is. Unless you all want to deal with a crying baby for the night?" Heads shake in a definite no. She knocks on the door. The blueish glow from underneath shows that he's still up, on his computers. After a few moments the door opens and Verde looks at Viper.

"What? I'm busy." He asks. Viper hands over the baby.

"He's sleeping with you tonight." With the baby passed over, she and the others return to their rooms.

Verde stares at the baby, then the empty corridor, and finally the baby again. Tsunayoshi claps and moves closer to Verde's chest, before falling asleep in his arms. Verde shuts the door behind him. Tipping out some documents from a basket, he chucks a pillow inside and lays the baby in there. With him settled, Verde goes back to his research.

When he finally decides to go to bed, he turns the computers off, changes clothes and lies down. But Tsunayoshi starts to create a fuss and starts whining. Not loud enough to disturb the others, but loud enough to stop him from sleeping.

"Shut up and go to sleep," Verde growls. His crocodile follows suit, glaring at the baby. But Tsunayoshi keeps on crying. Stamping out of bed and over to the child, Verde brings a hand up but freezes when he looks into the baby's eyes. Seeing Verde looming above him, the child giggles and reaches up for him. Keiman stands on its hind legs, front paws on the basket and peers in as well. Tsunayoshi reaches over and pats the crocodile's nose, before returning to reaching up for Verde.

"I read in a journal somewhere that it's not a good idea for the baby to sleep in the same bed," The child looks sad, but still reaches up in hope. "They suggest to have the baby next to you, at the same height, but in its own separate bed." Sighing, he stacks a load of books next to his bed before placing the basket on top of it. "There that should do." Minding the basket he gets into bed. The baby quietens down and goes back to sleep.

Supposedly.

But after a few hours, Verde wakes to find that the baby has managed to make its own way into the bed. Verde suspects that Keiman, who is on Tsunayoshi's other side, moved the child. But Verde is too tired to complain, and goes back to sleep.

_What an annoying child this is. But still, to sort out an argument through screaming alone is amazing. I'm going to watch you grow up and document it all. I hope that you give me something interesting to write about._

And if the crocodile wiggles over and pushes the baby closer to Verde, well, he's not about to let a specimen and data subject get harmed now, is he?

* * *

><p><strong>Phantom Hitman 1412<strong>

**First Published 18 March 2012**

**Edited: 27 February 2013**


	6. It's hard to stop

Chapter 6

It's hard to stop.

**Guess what guys! I emailed the people upstairs, and now Arcobaleno, Vongola 1st generation, Vongola 10th Generation and Vendice are all characters. It'll help distinguish family styled fics like this and the 1/10 gen ones that are popular at the moment.**

And well done to my amazing reviewer who noticed what no one else has commented upon yet. Yes all you readers, you've missed something. Although I'd imagine that some of you may just not have commented upon it.

**I plan to update this every three days instead of once a week like my other fic.**

* * *

><p>When Verde opened his eyes that morning, it was, to his utter confusion and horror, to find his arms wrapped around the child. Sitting up and letting go of the child, Verde scrabbles for his lab coat. Finding the inner pocket, he pulls out a little notebook and a pen, and immediately scribbles down his findings.<p>

Looking at the time, he sees that it's nearly breakfast. Leaving the child in the care of the crocodile- yes you read that right- he goes to prepare for the morning. The shower he made automatically sets the water to a constant heat of his liking. Waving a hand under a small machine on his left, it dispenses the right amount of soap. Next comes shampoo, followed by conditioner. And in exactly 7 minutes and 42 seconds Verde steps out of the shower.

Walking back into the bedroom, he clambers over books and papers to get to the wardrobe and gets his usual clothing out. As he dresses, he looks over at the still sleeping child and the crocodile wrapped around him. The fluffy brown hair is a mess, there is a little bit of saliva dribbling down his chin, yet he still looks cute. Even if this baby doesn't follow the scientific principles defining beauty, it's still cute. And Verde hasn't figured out why.

Sighing over the mysteries of the human mind, Verde walks towards the door. "Ne, Keiman, are you coming or not? And bring the child with you." The crocodile nods and shuffles closer to the baby. Bending down low, Tsunayoshi rolls towards the dip in the bed and onto the crocodile's back. Keiman walks over to the pile of books and slides down the stack instead of jumping off the bed. Verde holds the door open, impressed by the small crocodile and lets him through. Walking over to the elevator, Verde presses the button and waits. He himself had installed the elevator in case he had ever wanted to move things around the house. Carrying piles of paper up and down stairs wasn't fun. It was much easier with an elevator. And it suited their status. No one else had an elevator in their house. Not that Verde cared about silly things like status. After the _bing_, the scientist, his specimen and the crocodile exit and walk towards the kitchen.

As soon as they enter, Tsunayoshi stirs, as if sensing the others' presence. He opens his eyes and looks about, before patting the crocodile in thanks. Verde was amazed how much older the baby seemed. Even though it was only a few months old, it had a very good understanding of the world around him. He was good at reacting to people and animals, along with sensing the emotions of the others. That was not a skill that one was born with. Reading others came from experience with other people. Verde wrote this observation down in his book whilst he remembered it.

"Good morning." Skull says, walking over and taking the baby. He leaves the room. Verde sits down at the table and watches the others. A few minutes later Skull returns from what seems to be changing the baby and takes his seat. Colonnello immediately takes over, removing the baby from the stunt man's grasp before sitting at the table himself. Lal walks over, a bottle of milk in her hands, passing it to her student. Colonnello takes the bottle with thanks before letting Tsunayoshi drink from it.

Verde raises his eyebrow at this. It was only the third day they had had this baby, yet everyone had already taken it as normal and incorporated it into their morning routines. It seemed as if they didn't even think of it. Absentmindedly, he takes a bite of the pancakes Luce has placed infront of him. Another slice goes to the crocodile. Basically a group of trained killers, a stunt man, a psychic, and a mafia Boss were taking care of a child as if it was the natural thing to do. However, it was in most of their natures not to care for other people a great deal. None of them seemed like people to care for a child. Yet here they were, sadly himself included, incorporating a baby into their lives as if it was part of their job description. Taking a moment to turn the page, Verde continues to scribble furiously. The others wonder what's got him this fired up. Usually he waits until he's in his lab before working on a topic.

Verde is surprised later when he suddenly finds himself in the middle of changing the baby. He doesn't even remember agreeing or being forced to do the task. But what scares him right down to the core is knowing that he really doesn't mind. He doesn't care that he's doing such a menial task. Somehow, this baby has wormed his way in, and there's no way he's leaving now. And he has a funny suspicion that the Arcobaleno would continue to put Tsunayoshi into their routines without even knowing it. He sighs deeply as he finishes the job, realising that he wouldn't want this baby to leave either.

* * *

><p>Luce is determined that it's her turn to sleep with the baby. Tsunayoshi had already slept with Reborn and with Verde, so surely he would want a nice caring woman next.<p>

But no.

As soon as the lights were turned out and she got into bed, Tsunayoshi starts crying. She rushes over to the baby and gives him a big cuddle, hoping to calm him back down. "Hush, hush, darling, it's alright, mummy Luce's here. Don't cry now." She gently rocks the baby, hoping to lull it to sleep. However, Tsunayoshi has other plans. This time it's Lal, whose room is on her left, who storms in first, hunting knife in her hands.

"Would you shut the damn baby up!" she shouts, loud enough to wake everyone else up. Within moments the rest of the Arcobaleno are crowding in her room.

Fon walks over and takes the baby, patting it gently on the back. "Hey little one, what's wrong?" Tsunayoshi hiccups and sniffs before looking around the room. Not seeing the person he wants there, he starts crying again.

Fon walks around the room, making Tsunayoshi look at each of the Arcobaleno present. "Why do we have to line up for this brat? Luce you should just smack it for being naughty and ignore it. Teach it that it needs to do as it's told." Suggests Lal rather angrily. She had an early morning assignment and really should be getting some sleep, not catering to the whims of some snot nosed brat. As some of the Arcobaleno try to sooth Lal, Reborn hears the front door open and close, the key turning in the lock. He strolls out of the room and stands at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall.

Viper looks up at the shadow, identifying it as Reborn. "What do you want? I thought you'd all be asleep by now." Reborn waits until she's reached the top of the stairs before answering.

"We need you to deal with the baby before we can go to sleep." He explains, smirking at her. She doesn't like that look- it's his '_I know something you don't_' look, coupled with his _'you'll do what I want you to_' body language.

As she walks into Luce's room, the Arcobaleno turn to face her and Tsunayoshi becomes quiet. Sensing an opportunity here, she holds out her hand. "Usual question rate, from all of you."

"Deal." says Lal immediately- anything to shut the baby up. She didn't care if she had to pay it all herself.

Smiling happily, she walks across to Fon who willingly gives the baby up. Even he couldn't seem to calm the crying boy.

She stares into the eyes of the baby before placing one fingertip onto his forehead. "Why you little…" she whispers. "I'm not complaining, I've just made a load of money. Keep going if I were you." Sensing that Viper is very happy at the moment, Tsunayoshi claps and snuggles closer to her.

"So it _is_ you," says Reborn. The others turn to him to see what he's on about. "Fon walked around us to see who Tsunayoshi wants to sleep with, yet he didn't want anyone. The only one who wasn't here was Viper. So he wants to sleep with her, correct?"

"Yes, but you still owe me that money," she says as she walks out the room.

Entering her room, she stares at the baby in her arm and smiles down at him. "Ever since you've arrived I've gotten so much money out of them. I'm glad that you've come."

What she didn't tell him was that she was glad for someone who didn't judge her. She was glad for someone who wanted her, who needed her, who sought her out for comfort. She was happy that this small infant relied on her, and accepted her as she was; a money orientated psychic woman who never revealed her eyes.

And as she lay down next to the small bundle of hope, she was glad for the warmth by her side.

* * *

><p><strong>I love writing Verde. His mind works a lot like mine does, and since his character is analytical, I can write in my normal style and it'll still fit in.<strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 21 March 2012**

**Edited 27 February 2013**


	7. For you are never fully in control

Chapter 7

For you are never fully in control

**Every review I had commented upon how sweet that bit with Viper was, I even surprised myself. I finished writing it and thought, 'aww sweet' too! I'm so happy that you all like what I'm writing.**

* * *

><p>As Viper wakes up the next morning, she wonders what else is in the bed with her. Fantasma has his own cage on the other side of the room to sleep in. She had never had anyone else in the bed with her before. Rolling over, she looks at the source of the warmth and realises that it's the baby. He had stayed. Of course, it wasn't like he could have gone anywhere, but that slipped her mind.<p>

'_Another hour in bed won't hurt,'_ she thinks as she brings the sleeping child closer to her and in return it moved closer to her, firmly grabbing her night dress.

Half an hour later, someone dares to open her door and take a peek inside. They were welcomed into her room by a knife inches from their nose. Said intruder immediately closes the door and the knife disintegrates into mist.

Luce didn't mind about the knife all too much. She had faced worse in her time as the boss of Giglio Nero before being an Arcobaleno. She did, however, wish that she had a camera on her. She could have blackmailed Viper forever with that one shot. Squealing into her hands, she skips down the stairs to inform the others that Viper is taking good care of the baby and will be down later.

When Viper does eventually come down, baby in her arms, it's time for lunch. Which isn't surprising for her. However, it's when she sees Fon go and change the baby and Verde start to feed it with a bottle of milk made by Luce, that she is reminded of Lal's shout from last night. Even though she was outside the house, she could still hear Lal shout. Must be the Army Training. _"Why do we have to line up for this brat?"_

She found it infinitely amusing that this baby had everyone wrapped around it's little finger. '_There he goes again,'_ She laughs to herself. Tsunayoshi had just finished being fed when he reached out for Skull. And since this baby wasn't being denied_ anything_, it was immediately passed into the Stunt man's hands.

Skull was ecstatic that the baby had asked for him specifically. Since he had finished his own lunch, Skull took the baby and moved to the living room. Laying out flat on the longest sofa, he supports the baby into a sitting position on his chest. "So, what do you want to do?" he asks the baby. Tsunayoshi leans forwards and grabs the chain attached to his lip. He shakes his hand, making the chain jangle and lets out a cheer. But getting over excited, Tsunayoshi pulls too hard and Skull lets out a yelp.

There is a snigger from the doorway. "Even the child attacks you," says Reborn, looking superior as always. But it's totally the opposite. Tsunayoshi couldn't look anymore heartbroken. His eyes got wider, if that's even possible, and he tears up. He immediately lets go of the chain and hugs Skull's chest. Tiny high pitch whimpers resonate from the boy and Skull places one hand on the baby's back as Tsunayoshi shakes. Turning his back on Reborn, Skull rolls over and brings his knees up to the back of the sofa. Tsunayoshi slides off in the process and curls up in the space between Skull and the back of the sofa, still crying his eyes out.

"Tsunayoshi," Skull whispers gently. Watery liquid chocolate eyes look his way, tears streaming like a waterfall. Pulling his sleeve down, Skull wipes the baby's tears up. "It's alright. I'm fine, okay. So smile Tsunayoshi, or you'll make me sad." And he gives the baby a huge smile. Tsunayoshi looks Skull directly in the eyes and tilts his head as if thinking. After a long while of thinking, Tsunayoshi tilts his head the other way and give a small smile. When Skull pats his head and his smile remains, Tsunayoshi's smile grows.

So, deciding that everything is alright now, Tsunayoshi curls up and falls asleep. All that crying made him tired.

For the rest of the day, Tsunayoshi wouldn't leave Skull's side as if repenting for his misdeed. When Luce decided it was time for bed and took the child, Tsunayoshi immediately screamed and reached out for the stuntman.

"Fine," pouts Luce in fake anger. "I get it, I'm not good enough. I'll just leave you alone," and she walks into her room.

"You know, you don't wanna make Mamma Luce mad. You'd best sleep with her next." Advises Skull as he walks into his room with the child. Skull swears that he sees the child roll his eyes. But that's not possible. Babies don't know what that means, they have no reason for that gesture. Putting it up to his tired eyes playing tricks on him, Skull lays the baby down before getting changed.

"You're going to be different from the others. I know you are. You're the first person ever to cry for me... As nice as Luce and Fon are, they do nothing to stop Reborn and Colonnello tormenting me." He sits down on the bed, smiling gently at the baby. "But you regretted your actions, and I thank you for that. Maybe one day, when you're older, I'll take you flying." His eyes fill with an excited gleam, whilst he raises a hand in the air. "We'll go out on my motorbike, drive fast and free, over the roads and over the air, and I'll show you there's more to me than the others think." He lowers his hand to his lap, balling it into a fist. Slowly, he sighs. "Whilst my body is indestructible, my heart is not, and I hope that you can fill in the cracks the others have made. For I don't know how much longer I can take this."

This time, it's Tsunayoshi's turn to wipe the tears away. Gently patting Skull's cheek, Tsunayoshi then reaches out as if for a hug. And Skull is more than willing to oblige.

* * *

><p><strong>See you all soon!<strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 24 March 2012.**

**Edited 27 February 2013**


	8. But once that step is taken

Chapter 8

But Once that Step is Taken

Squinting, Skull opens his eyes as the sun enters his room through the open curtains. He yawns, and goes to bring his arms up in a stretch, but one arm feels far too heavy. Looking down, he is surprised by the baby hugging his arm in its sleep. Gently detaching the baby, he reluctantly puts Tsunayoshi back down on the bed. He proceeds to get dressed for breakfast and slowly wanders downstairs.

"Morning," he mumbles, sitting down at his seat. Slowly the others arrive, except Viper, who rarely comes out of her room before noon. Breakfast is a quiet affair like usual. Luce was chatting to everyone without really receiving an answer. She was a morning person, as was Fon, Lal and Colonnello. The rest were not. As breakfast was winding to a close, and Tsunayoshi had been taken care of, Skull feels a tug on his shirt. Looking down at the baby on his lap, Tsunayoshi looks at the animals around him. Keiman was under his master's chair, Cosmo was sitting on Luce's hat, Falco was on his perch in the corner, Leon was on Reborn's shoulder and Lichi was on the table, stealing grapes from the fruit bowl. Tsunayoshi looks at them and then at Skull, questioning where Skull's own animal was.

"Oh, you want to see Oodako do you? Let's go then." Picking Tsunayoshi up, he exits the kitchen and the house. In the garden was a large warehouse hidden behind some trees. Entering the warehouse, Tsunayoshi looks around in awe. Over half of the warehouse was taken up with a large pool, the rest contained bikes and ramps and cannons and loads of other equipment. It was hard to miss the large octopus in the pool. Gurgling happily away, Tsunayoshi reaches out, pointing in that direction. Smiling, Skull takes him over and introduces the baby to the animal. Trusting his partner, he holds out the baby and very gently, tentacles wrap around. Tsunayoshi screams in delight, patting whatever he can reach.

Letting Tsunayoshi have his fun, Skull wonders over to the other side and starts to check over his bike. He was going to do some dangerous jumps in a show tomorrow and he wanted to check everything was still in top working order. He gets so engrossed in doing so that he forgets about Tsunayoshi totally until the baby cries. Spinning around, he sees that Oodako is still holding the baby tightly, so he walks over to investigate. As he's doing so he looks over at the time and realises that it's already time for lunch: Tsunayoshi would be hungry.

Saying goodbye to his partner, he walks back through the garden and back into the kitchen, where he met Luce.

"Oh Tsunayoshi hunnie, what's wrong?" In true mother mode she takes the baby and totally ignores Skull; he doesn't mind, knowing that the baby is in the best hands of the house. Satisfied that the baby will have more fun with her, he goes back to his preparations. "Hungry, huh? Give me a moment then," and Tsunayoshi stops crying. A few minutes later and he's happily drinking the bottle of milk Luce holds up for him.

"We're going to have to buy some stuff for you aren't we. I didn't think that the rest would agree to keep you. You'll need a bed, and some more clothes and some toys and a blanket and a baby bath, oh and shampoo and soap and-" The baby stays silent as Luce reeled off a list of things she would need to buy for him. Anyone watching would wonder when she stopped to take a breath. Finally taking a breath, she looks down at the baby. "It's settled then."

She walks upstairs, grabs a few things, as well as her purse, before phoning ahead to Aria. She picks up after a few rings.

"Good Afternoon mother. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine thanks Aria. I need to borrow a few of your men and a van if you've got one spare. I'm going shopping for supplies for Tsunayoshi so there'll be a few large items like the bed and such." Luce replies, getting straight to the point.

A light laugh comes from the phone. "Of course Mother. I'll send Gamma and a few others. They'll meet you at the front gate."

Luce signs in relief. "Thank you! Well, I'd best be going, Ciao~" and she hangs up.

Aria smiles at her mother's attitude before spinning the chair around to look at Gamma. "Well you heard. You'll be escorting my mother on a shopping trip. Take a van with you too, she's doing a lot of shopping." Gamma pales. He'd been made to go on one of their shopping trips before. He never wanted to walk down the street blinded by boxes and bags again. Aria smiles sympathetically "Don't worry, you can take some of the others with you too."

"Of course Boss," says Gamma, keeling before walking out of the room.

* * *

><p>Now Mafia Row was in the middle of nowhere. Yep, it was part of the address. Why? It was on its own island. Just like MafiaLand, this island was able to move to wherever the occupants wanted it too. It gave the Bosses protection and privacy, somewhere to relax in, as well as having a good climate most of the time. No one knew where this Island was. As a result, Luce couldn't go online and order whatever she wanted- it would never get to her. Hence the van. She would travel to the nearest city, buy what she wanted and take it back on the boat.<p>

During the trip, the Giglio Nero members wondered what on earth being an Arcobaleno had done to her. Although she didn't exactly have the best housemates in the world. She was still the same person they remembered, but she was different too. She was definitely crazier than before. Maybe not having the burdens or stress of being a Mafia Boss anymore had helped somewhat?

They all jumped out of their skins however, when a serious deathly aura suddenly appeared right behind them. Luce carried on walking as if nothing special was happening. Shifting the baby in her arms, she says, "Reborn, what a nice surprise, grab that bath will you? And then you'll need those towels there. Not those ones, the ones below." Their jaws dropped when all Reborn did was click his tongue before complying with her wishes. Yes, the greatest Hitman in the world was currently holding a baby blue mini bath and bright orange towels.

"Luce," he growls, still picking up whatever items she calls out for, "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving the island?" Ah, that would explain the aura.

"Well, you did find me quite quickly. That shampoo. You always do. If I didn't know better I'd say you had a tracker on me. What flavour soap, vanilla or rose?" She still hadn't turned to look him in the face, treating him like any of her previous subordinates.

"Ask the brat," he says, looking away. Gamma looks confused. Why ask the baby, it couldn't decide. But he's shocked when Luce takes the advice very seriously and brings the soap closer to the baby.

"Which one Tsunayoshi?" she asks gently. Tsunayoshi takes a good look at each one before pointing to the Vanilla one.

Luce giggles at the choice, "He's got your tastes Reborn."

"I don't care. What I do care about is that you just walked out of the house with no protection. I know for a fact that you don't have your gun on you, and I doubt that these so-called Mafioso would be all that useful. I've already had to take care of a sniper, and even one man who was aiming for your purse. Would you at least pay more attention?"

"Pft. Reborn, I knew you were there. You got rid of that sniper before I could say anything about it. Plus I didn't have any visions of dying, so stop worrying. Here take him, I need to pay for this." In a rather business-like manner, she exchanges the bath for the baby and walks straight to the checkout. It's all Gamma and the others can do to catch up with her. They all give side looks to Reborn, who has the baby held in his arm. No one was going to comment on the tight hold he had on the baby, nor how he seemed even more protective now the infant was in his arms. The aura alone would keep anyone and everyone at least 2 metres away.

They don't see Reborn nor the baby for the rest of the trip. In fact the only way they know that Reborn is even still around is when a packet of diapers goes missing. No one had gotten close enough to the bag to steal anything, so it had to be someone of Reborn's level. Luce didn't seem to mind, and if she assumed it was Reborn, then they had no other option than to accept it. Nor do they notice when those diapers return.

Returning home, the first thing she sees is a fuming Viper. "How much money did you spend?" she shouts, looking suspiciously at the van. Luce sighs and hands the receipts over.

"It's all stuff for the baby and I'll pay for it, so don't worry," she explains. Viper seems to be less worried after hearing that. Luce isn't sure what part of her sentence pleased the woman, but at least Luce wasn't being shouted at. Before Luce can even ask, Fon, Skull and Colonnello are unpacking the van and taking the items into the house.

Walking inside she sees Reborn and the baby had made it back safely, not that she had any doubts. So with everything settled and taken care of, she starts humming to herself as she starts on dinner preparations.

* * *

><p>As everyone walks upstairs for bed later that day, there is a new addition to the hallway; it looks suspiciously like the cot she had brought earlier, yet this one was on wheels.<p>

"Who made the bed?" she asks, raising one eyebrow at the new additions.

Verde steps forwards, "Well I did of course." Verde was the best at making things, so it shouldn't have taken him long to make it. What amazed her was that she hadn't even told him she had brought it home. She hadn't seen him since this morning. "Since the baby likes to change the sleeping arrangements, I added the wheels to make it easier to move the cot from one room to another." Luce was impressed by his foresight. "Talking of," he mumbles and walks right up to the baby in her arms, "I want to go to sleep, so hurry and decide who you're sleeping with now. I don't want to hear the sound of you crying at all, understand?" Tsunayoshi nods and reaches up to grab her dress.

"_**Yes!**_" she shouts, jumping up and down. "It's finally my turn. Oh thank you thank you thank you Tsunayoshi~" And she skips into her room, kicking the cot in with her foot. The door slams shut, quieting the sound of squeals of joy. The Arcobaleno shake their heads and say good night to each other before departing to their own rooms.

* * *

><p><strong>And there we go.<strong>

**Come visit the Arcobaleno House again, ne?**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 27 March 2012**

**Edited: 27****th**** February 2013**


	9. You'll look back and see

Chapter 9

You'll look back and see.

It was the sun coming through her windows, along with the Sun coming through her door, that woke Luce up the next morning.

"You know the punishment."

She sits up and sighs. This happened every time she disappeared on them without warning. It wasn't too common an occurrence, but it was common enough to be noted and have a punishment created. Trying not to be obvious, she looks at her windows- damn, they're shut and locked. The door? No, too late, Reborn's already coming straight at her. Without a care for the baby, Reborn grabs Luce and hefts her over his shoulder. Luce smiles down at the baby, who had woken upon Reborn's arrival, and sadly waved to him. Looking confused, the baby shook his arm in an attempt of a wave back. Reborn exits the room and carries her downstairs.

Peeking his head around the corner, Fon shakes his head at the way the baby has been ignored. Picking the baby up, he carries it downstairs too, before making it a bottle of milk.

Tsunayoshi looks around the room, clearly not having a clue what's going on, nor how he should react. In fact, Tsunayoshi wondered if Luce was going to sleep again since they had 'wrapped' her up. Whenever they got covered, the people around him fell asleep. Whenever someone placed a cover on him, they expected him to sleep too. Tsunayoshi didn't mind since the cover was soft and comfortable, but Mamma Luce didn't look like she wanted to go to sleep; they'd only just woken up.

Tsunayoshi looks up as Reborn approaches, keeping a tight hold on Cosmo. Giving the squirrel over to Tsunayoshi, he gives the baby a stern look and says, "Keep hold of it until tell you to let go." The baby doesn't understand, but is more than willing to hold onto the animal. It's soft and fluffy after all.

The rest of the Arcobaleno do nothing to help their Boss. Instead they just wonder at the smirk Reborn gives Luce. It seems as if Reborn was going to enjoy this. Reborn kneels down next to Fon, getting on the same level as Tsunayoshi. Putting a large hand on the small shoulder, Tsunayoshi looks away from the squirrel to the Hitman. "See Luce?" Reborn asks, pointing to the woman. "Luce's been very bad." Tsunayoshi looks at the woman, tiny mouth open in shock. Even if he didn't understand the words, he knew the tone and atmosphere. Mamma Luce was in trouble. "She's been very very bad, so we need to punish her."

Luce couldn't stand to look at Tsunayoshi as he slowly tears up and starts to cry. She would turn away if she could, but Reborn had made sure that she couldn't. This was certainly the harshest punishment yet, and maybe the most unusual too. Now the other Arcobaleno understand Reborn's smirk from earlier, and the Hitman was indeed enjoying the look of anguish appearing on his Boss's face.

But what was even worse was that Tsunayoshi was holding Cosmo. And the squirrel looked upset too! Two of her most important (and cutest) people were crying. She couldn't bear to see that anymore.

When Reborn deemed that she had been punished enough, he stood, taking back custody of the squirrel. He looked at the other Arcobaleno around him, then at Luce. She didn't like the look on his face, it promised that more evil was to come. What did he have planned?

He walks to the door, opening it, and leans against the door frame. "Continue as usual," he says to them, before smiling that evil smile of his and leaving. Luce's eyes widen in shock. Not the usual punishment on top! Wasn't making her watch a crying baby enough?

The usual punishment consisted of Luce being tied to a chair- which she was already- and being fed food she didn't like. After that, she was ignored the whole day. No one was allowed to talk to her. She wouldn't get any visitors, no phone calls outside, nothing. And being the social person she was, it was very hard for her to be ignored. She had also found out that if she decided to talk to the others, or even herself since she was her only company, then Reborn would come in and gag her to shut her up. The silence was horrible to Luce. They tied her to a chair for two reasons. Firstly was so that she couldn't escape the punishment. Second was so that she couldn't move around and help the others. It made her happy to make breakfast for the others, to help them if they needed it, or to help any of the other residents of Mafia Row. Yet tied to the chair she couldn't. She couldn't lift one finger to help anyone. And doing nothing was boring. She wasn't one to sit around doing nothing.

So much for being the Boss. Didn't being the Boss mean that the others couldn't punish her like this? See if she made them breakfast again.

* * *

><p>Like Reborn had ordered, after eating, they had all left and ignored her. Since no one seemed interested in keeping the baby today, Fon decided that he would keep it. Walking outside, he went in a different direction than Skull's warehouse. It was quite a walk to where he wanted to go, but the peace and quiet was worth it. By the time he reached his destination, no sound of civilisation could be heard. Just the birds, the river and even the sea if he listened hard enough.<p>

Putting the baby and the carrier down (Luce had brought it yesterday) and in the shade, Fon takes a few minutes to prepare himself. He gives all of his muscles a stretch, removing any remnants of sleep left. Jumping across the river, he lands on a rock near the middle. Crossing his legs, he's about to start meditating when Tsunayoshi starts to create a fuss. The baby stops crying as soon as Fon's head and smile appear in his vision. Gurgling happily, Tsunayoshi reaches up to Fon, wanting to be included too. Deciding it couldn't hurt, Fon takes the baby out of the carrier and returns to his position.

"Tsunayoshi, this is called meditating. You sit and listen to the world around you, whilst being as still and quiet as you can. It gives you time to reflect on the world around you, and helps you find yourself and your centre. Can you do that?" The child looks up with those huge brown eyes and places a hand over his mouth, imitating the gesture they use to tell him to be quiet. Fon smiles in agreement, before raising his head and closing his eyes.

To his amazement, the baby doesn't make another sound, but just wriggles to get comfortable and doesn't move again. With Lichi on his head and Tsunayoshi on his lap, Fon finds it quiet comfortable.

_It's hard to think that this child has such a sad past when he's so happy all of the time. The rest could use him as an example. Not that I'm any different, but I've already learnt that lesson. I learnt it a long time ago. I hope that Tsunayoshi stays like this when he learns what the rest of the Island is like. But if he can stand living with us and not change, then I'm sure that he'll be fine. He may even teach those Mafioso a lesson._

_But what am I even talking about. He's only a child. I can't place such high hopes on him. He's got to survive growing up first._

Opening his eyes, he finds that it's close to noon. Had he really been thinking that long? He had gotten carried away with those dreams of his. Stretching once more, he finds that the baby is still awake. Seeing that Fon has opened his eyes, Tsunayoshi takes that as a cue to talk again. He places his hands on his stomach and starts crying. However, Fon has a pretty good idea what's wrong this time. He had found that Tsunayoshi's crying was like clockwork. He could set his watch by it. It was lunchtime, therefore Tsunayoshi wanted to be changed, eat and sleep. After the nap, he'd want to play. So jumping from his rock across to the river bank, he sets about pleasing the small child. And just like he predicted, as soon as the baby was cared for, he fell asleep. Fon left him in the carrier, under the shade of a tree, with Lichi keeping watch.

It was time for the next part of his routine- his martial arts practice. Settling into his stance, he begins the swings, thrusts, punches and kicks that have been trained into him until they are as natural as breathing. There's something soothing to just letting his body take over and lead the way. It's not until he hears a happy giggle that he realises that Tsunayoshi is awake once again. That means that another two hours had passed.

"Do you like that?" he asks the boy. Tsunayoshi claps his hands whilst cheering, giving a definite yes. Fon smiles and does a few of the flashier moves, ones involving spins and flips. Tsunayoshi gets even more excited, almost getting out of the carrier. "No stay there. I don't want you to get hurt by accident." The baby seems to understand and sits back down, still cheering away.

Fon spends the rest of the afternoon like this, entertaining the baby with more complex patterns and chains of moves. It's all good training after all.

* * *

><p>Everyone is in the living room after dinner when Fon asks, "Tsunayoshi, we are going to bed now. Who do you want to sleep with tonight?" The baby looks around the room, before pointing in a direction that none of them are in. Reborn narrows his eyes.<p>

"How did you know?" The baby just glares back at Reborn and punches his hand in that direction again. Reborn smiles and bursts out laughing, "Well you got me. Well done." He gets up and walks in that direction.

"What are you talking about, kora?" asks Colonnello, just as confused as the rest are. All is explained when Reborn reaches the utility cupboard and opens it, revealing Luce, still tied to the chair and gaged. She glares at him and the temperature in the door drops a few degrees. It wasn't a good idea to make her mad.

"I moved her to a different place when none of you were looking. It was an extra punishment for taking the child with her when she disappeared. But it seems as if Tsunayoshi saw right through me." They all look at the baby, who just seems happy that Luce is no longer in the closet. Yawning, he grabs Fon's robe and curls up to sleep, showing his preference for tonight. The others just shrug it off as mere coincidence, whilst Verde scribbles furiously in his little book. There could only be so many coincidences and acts of amazing judgement like this. Something must be up.

* * *

><p><strong>Phantom Hitman 1412<strong>

**First Published 31 March 2012.**

**Edited: 27 February 2013**


	10. That nothing is really different

Chapter 10

That nothing is really different

Fon wakes up early as usual and quietly gets out of bed, wanting the baby to sleep in more. None of the others got up at this time. However in the middle of getting dressed, Fon takes a glance in the baby's direction and finds he's being watched. The baby was already up, yet was being quiet. He hadn't cried or anything yet. With a smile on his face, Fon puts a finger to his lips and the baby repeats this gesture, using his whole hand instead.

Silently going downstairs, he sets about making a bottle of milk as quickly as possible. He would be in trouble if he woke the others up at this time due to Tsunayoshi's crying. Holding Tsunayoshi in one arm and holding the bottle in the other hand, he feeds the boy whilst watching the sun rise over the horizon.

"Up early as usual, kora," comments Colonnello as he walks into the kitchen. Fon nods his head in hello.

"Yes, the little one was up too so I brought him down. You're up early for a day off." Colonnello had no problems waking up before dawn if practice, training or a mission was involved- more time to tease Lal with. Yet on his days off, he appreciated a lie in. Today was one of the few times the trainee had had off in quite a long time. Fon fully expected him to take the opportunity and sleep in.

Colonnello waves the comment off behind his back, since his head is currently in the fridge, searching for something to eat.

"I thought it be best if I left the house before Lal wakes up. Otherwise she'd find a way to train me even if it is my day off." Closing the door to the fridge, he places his armful on the counter and starts to prepare some breakfast for himself.

Fon gives the boy a knowing smile behind his back, and nonchalantly says, "You failed a practical again didn't you? You're off to practice so you can impress her."

To his credit, the flinch was tiny, almost unnoticeable if it was any normal person watching. He just carried on cooking as if Fon hadn't hit the nail on the head. "Haha, kora. What do you mean, kora? I passed Lal's last test just fine, kora. I'm up this early to make the most of my day off, kora. I have plans, kora." And he turns around to face Fon, spying the baby in the man's arms. "I'm having a bonding session with the boy, kora."

Fon could tell that he was right. If the flinch wasn't enough, then the addition of 'kora' at the end of each sentence was. He only ever used that phrase that frequently if he was nervous, worried or embarrassed. Hearing Colonnello's plans for the day, the baby cheers, as if it knows it's being talked about. Pushing the bottle away signifies that he's done with it.

"That'll be nice. You two seem to get on very well. I'll go find the bag and check that there are enough supplies in there for you." Fon wasn't letting Colonnello out of this. Before the trainee can even answer back, Fon is gone like the wind.

Colonnello actually doesn't mind spending the day with the baby, and was going to try and play with him anyway. The baby was just like a bundle of energy and Colonnello loved that about him. The baby was just as happy, cheerful and optimistic as he himself was. So instead of grumbling about the baby being forced with him, in true Colonnello style, he takes the opportunity and makes the best of it. If it was going to happen anyway, then why not have fun doing it. He turns back to the food and sets about making lunch and snacks for himself too. Fon would take care of the baby milk.

Rummaging in a cupboard as he eats, he finds a large bottle and fills it with water. Going into his own supply bag, he checks that the gas fire is working and had enough fuel. Chucking out any unnecessary items, he makes room in his own bag for the baby's supplies; there was no need to carry two bags in it could all fit in one. It would be a waste of space, energy and arms. When Fon returns, he puts those items securely in the bag and chucks it on his back.

"He's all ready to go. I even changed him for you," smiles Fon. Fon was always helpful like that, yet he never flaunted it in other people faces.

Both smile down at the baby as Tsunayoshi changes arms. "Ready to go little guy?" Colonnello asks with a big smile of his own. The baby looks up and gurgles happily, waving his arms in excitement. His excitement is catching, and Colonnello leaves the house with a bounce in his step.

Cutting between their house and Aria's, he heads for the thick forest on that side of the island. Once he gets to the edge, he slows his steps, going through Lal's advice from earlier that week.

"_Calm down you hyper active idiot. Are you trying to be a stupid puppy that can do nothing but bounce everywhere?"_

Calm down, focus the energy. Be firm and solid.

Taking in a deep breath, he takes his first step into the forest, walking across the twigs and leaves that have fallen on the ground. Keeping his focus, and Lal's admonishments running through his mind, he makes it the majority of the way to his destination without his feet making a noise. Tsunayoshi is mostly quiet too, hands chasing the trails of flying birds and falling leaves. He looks around at everything, taking it all in with a child-like fascination.

Pleased with his achievement, he loses the concentration he had, and a twig snaps beneath him. Colonnello sighs at that, but Tsunayoshi's comforting pat on his chest brightens him right back up. It was hard for him to remain sad usually, even without the child's help.

Reaching their destination, he drops the backpack in the middle of the clearing. Grabbing a blanket, he lays it out and flops down on it, staring up at the blue sky through the leafy canopy. He'd been so busy lately, and between missions and Lal's demon training, he had very little time to relax. All he had done for the past month was train and sleep. Colonnello was amazed that he had even had time to meet the baby and bond with him on the first day. Since then he had spent any spare moment he had trying to see the baby, but those times were fleeting and always on a time limit.

So now was his opportunity.

Walking silently through a forest wasn't the only thing he wasn't top notch at. But after listening to Reborn's story of how he found Tsunayoshi, Colonnello thought that the baby might enjoy this training too. If anything, it would be fun and no longer boring. Sometimes it took a different approach to learn new skills.

However it seems that the baby is one step ahead of him already. Colonnello laughs as he looks at the baby covered in mud. Whilst it hadn't rained recently, this area was near the source of the river and was rather damp. Whilst he had been gazing at the blue sky above, Tsunayoshi had gotten bored and found a patch of wet mud near where Colonnello had placed him. With wiggles and manoeuvres that only a baby could produce, he had managed to pull himself closer to the inviting patch of brown goo. Once there, it was just too tempting, and the little baby had stuck his hand in it. Once his hand was nicely covered, he decided to draw mindlessly on the blanket wrapped around him. When that was brown enough too, he started on his own chest, and eventually moved onto his arms. Colonnello just watched as the baby had fun drawing pattern-less lines on its own body, but he had to smile. The baby was having too much fun not to smile at him.

Crawling closer to the baby, he lays on his stomach. "What you got there?" he asks Tsunayoshi. The baby turns and waves his hands in the air in glee, chucking the mud everywhere in the process. "Are you having fun?" The baby's answer to that is to stick his hand back into the mud and introduce it to Colonnello's face. Colonnello blinks and goes cross-eyed, trying to see the patch of mud on his nose. He laughs and goes to rub it off, but Tsunayoshi makes a disgruntled noise and gives him a look. A rather stern look that said 'if you dare to clean that off, I'll scream and cry'. Slowly Colonnello takes his hand away from his face, holding both hands away to show he wasn't going to do it again. In a flash the baby's expression does a 180, and he couldn't look happier. Placing his hand back in the mud, Tsunayoshi adds another splotch on Colonnello's cheek.

Camouflage was actually the other thing he had come out here to train for. He just couldn't make it seem believable, it always looked fake. Which of course it was. So when Reborn had mentioned that the kid liked to paint- even if it was with blood- Colonnello decided to take the baby out one day and give it a shot. Like he said earlier, it couldn't hurt. So what else was there to do but to lay his head on crossed arms and let the child do what he wanted? Closing his eyes so that no mud got into them, he just left the child to its own devices, whilst letting the sun warm his back. It was rather therapeutic and relaxing actually. So nice that he nearly fell asleep, if his instincts would let him. Yet every twig snapping was an enemy, every rustle of leaves was a sniper, every brush of the wind was someone sliding through the trees.

So when the baby finally stopped he was both sorry and relieved. Opening his eyes, he sees the baby staring back at him before it bursts out into a joyous giggle. Placing a hand into his bag, he pulled out the mirror. Piercing blue eyes gleam sharply through the mess of brown mud, green grass, and a mixture of leaves. Not even part of his hair had been spared, although the leaves in his hair did look like they were purposely placed in a line, almost like a crown. Closing one eye, he even sees that the baby covered that area too. He did vaguely remember the baby being gentle with his eyelids. But without the piercing blue to give him away, the image left really did look like the forest floor. He even noticed that the baby hadn't stopped laughing the whole time. It certainly had had fun painting his face to look like this.

When the baby pulled on his sleeve, he absentmindedly moved the arm flat, still fascinated with the job the baby had done. He didn't notice the cold or wet feeling. He did notice the warm press of skin against his hand. Looking away from the mirror to the baby, he could see that the baby had dropped his hand into the small patch of mud and had brought a finger to his own face. Looking up hopefully, the baby also shakes the finger he has hold of. Colonnello gets the picture and drops the mirror to concentrate on his new task. When Tsunayoshi realises Colonnello is going to play games too, he lets go of the finger and laughs.

Dipping his finger back into the mud, he starts to draw circles on Tsunayoshi's face. The baby giggles as if it tickles, but stills stays relatively still. A smile crawls onto his face as he works, and before long, he's laughing along with the baby too. He focuses less on the job at hand and more on having fun. Before long, the baby is covered in flowers and leaves and bits of grass just like Colonnello himself is.

He stops and looks blankly ahead for a moment, causing the baby to go silent in concern. But after a moment, a shark's grin crawls on his face. "Do you want to play a game?" he asks the baby. Tsunayoshi nods his head and claps. "We've got to be quiet then," he warns the baby, placing a finger over his lips. Quickly he picks the baby up, stuffs the blanket in the bag and dives into the nearest bush. Laying down low, he places Tsunayoshi on the ground next to him.

Army booted feet walk into the clearing before stopping in the middle. "Where did that damn student of mine go? He's usually here."

"Now I can follow the Queen of the Forest all day and admire her beauty, kora," says Colonnello into the clearing, grinning like a cat. Colonnello tries not to laugh at her flustered reaction and immediate switch to angered and frustrated. Lal was amazing at swapping between the two. Seeing a flustered Lal was a sight to behold; she looked softer and more like a woman like that. So Colonnello spent every moment he could trying to draw out that reaction from her.

"Oh, so someone finally learnt how to paint did he?" she asks mockingly, looking around for him. She would have missed him since his eyes were the same blue as the flowers from the bush. It was that flirtatious smile that drew her in, allowing her to target her shot. Within moments, she has her riffle out and aimed directly at him, sending a shot flying in his direction. Grabbing Tsunayoshi, Colonnello scrabbles up off the floor and away from the bullet. With trees to his back, into the clearing is the only way to go.

She looks between the pair and laughs at the baby. "Did the brat try to do his own?" she scoffs. Colonnello pouts and raises the baby up higher in his arms, settling him in more comfortably.

"Actually, that was my attempt, kora. Tsunayoshi did mine, if you must know." She stops laughing and considers the job the little baby did. She then gives the baby a considering stare, respect gleaming in her eyes for the briefest of moments. Striding over to Colonnello, she grabs his ear and starts to drag him off.

"Even a new born brat can do better than you. You should spend less time flirting and more time practicing. At this rate, you might as well have a huge target painted on you for all the use the camouflage will do!"

Her grip does loosen as she realises he's no longer making a sound through the forest, but she still lectures him all the way back to the house. Colonnello and the baby exchange looks.

Maybe some things never change.

There were a few strange looks when Colonnello and Tsunayoshi sit at the table, faces still covered in mud. But occurrences like that were common, especially with him. However, everyone praises Tsunayoshi's work on Colonnello's face. Once dinner is over, Reborn kicks the both of them into the bathroom. He always was one to be clean and neat. Whilst in the bath, Colonnello makes bubbles with the soap to please the baby, who sneezes whenever one pops in his face. After the bath, they play a little longer until it's time for bed.

Changing into his usual shorts for bed, Colonnello looks at the sleeping baby. _Lal's got her eye on him already. He better be ready when he grows up. I know how much of a handful she can be. But if anyone can break through Lal's masks, I'm sure that he can._

* * *

><p><strong>Only one more chapter to go until we can meet the rest of the residents of Mafia Row!<strong>

**I'll meet you all there, kora. I love Colonnello's kora too. I say it whenever I want attention at my house, or whenever I walk in the door. My dad, who is the only other one to have watched Reborn, koras back. It's fun. And kora is easier on the throat than Voii ;]**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 02 April 2012**

**Edited: 27 February 2013**


	11. For you are still the same old you

Chapter 11

For you are still the same old you.

"Please."

"No."

"Pretty please~."

"No."

"I'll buy you that riffle you've been looking at."

"You mean the one with- Ah, I see what you're doing. No!"

The others hide their laughs as the pair walk through the corridor towards the living room.

"But Lal, kora!"

"I said no and that's final."

The pair had come to a stop in the middle of the living room, unknowingly making a spectacle of themselves. Fon, Luce and Skull are interested in how this was going to end, and were firmly on Colonnello's side. Verde didn't personally care, but was watching for research purposes- and as a result, on Colonnello's side too. Reborn watches with an amused smirk on his face, watching for the battle of personalities rather than caring about the actual result of the argument. Viper was asleep.

"I just don't see why!" says Colonnello, throwing one hand out to the side in emphasis and exasperation.

Lal has had enough of her student back talking her. So she slapped him. Quite a few times. "Trainees are there to listen to orders. You do not question what I say."

But Colonnello was persistent. "But Lal, we aren't talking about training, kora. You know that I'd follow your orders then since you are the best teacher in the world," Lal just growls- flattery wasn't working on her today. "We are talking about you as a person. And I know that this will be good for you."

She could never tell with Colonnello whether statements like that were sincere or just another part of his flattery. She'd never had anyone talk like that to her before; other trainees feared her too much to say more than 'Yes Ma'am'. Which was the way it should be. But not him. Deciding she wasn't going to take any more of this, she spins around on her heels and starts to walk out of the room.

Sniff. Whimper. Sniff. Cough.

And cue the waterworks.

Tsunayoshi, who was currently in Colonnello's arms, and the reason for the fight, starts to cry profusely. Lal's steps don't falter since she had had lots of trainees try and cry their way out of a punishment.

Did I say Viper was asleep? Well she's not now. Throwing the door open she storms in and up to the baby. Looking around she growls, "Who made him cry? He woke me up _again_ and whoever did is going to pay for that." Fingers point in Lal's direction. "Lal Mirch, eh?" Ah, she could guess what was going on here then "Take him."

Lal stops walking and turns around. "What! Why should I take that brat? I have better things to be doing than babysitting an infant who can't do anything. I don't even see why the brat would want to come with me."

Lal should have known this was coming, but thrust a load of notes into Viper's outstretched hand anyway. Happy, Viper turns to Tsunayoshi who reaches out for her. Taking the baby in her arms, she shuts her eyes and places a fingertip on his forehead. "Tell me why Lal. Surely you'd have more fun with one of the others. At least they want to be with you." Lal growls at the remark but stays quiet, she wants to know the answer too. Everyone is shocked once more when they hear her laugh. Until the baby came, the only laugh they heard from her was an evil witch cackle when she had lots of money. "Good luck with that Tsunayoshi. But I think it can be done. You and Colonnello can do it. Just don't break her totally." Colonnello pats the baby on the head once he deciphers Viper's mumblings.

Viper advances on Lal, taking forceful threatening steps. "What are you scared of Lal?" she asks. "You think that something is going to change when you accept the child?" Lal takes a step backwards at those words. Of course not, she wasn't scared of anything. "You think we are going to treat you any differently? Do you think that the trainees won't listen to you if you suddenly look more like a woman than usual?" The slight blush on Lal's face said there might be some truth in that last statement.

Did Lal think she would be less threatening with a baby in her arms?

Colonnello gave her a look that said _I knew that was what it was._ Luce and Fon wanted to face-palm over such a stupid reason. Reborn pushes himself of the wall and takes a step forwards.

"Lal, think how threatening you would be with both a rifle in your hands and a gun-toting baby on your back. You'd have no blind spots then." Lal thought about that for a moment, so Reborn continued, "Think how well Tsunayoshi could do if he had an early start in training. If he was trained from a young age, then he wouldn't complain. He'd just accept it and get on with it."

"But COMSUBIN doesn't accept trainees so young." she mumbles, still trying to find any excuse not to be dumped with the baby for the day.

"Ptf." Reborn scoffs "As if you and Colonnello weren't trained to be snipers from birth." Which was true.

"Or are you too blinded by your personal issues to see his potential?" asks Viper.

Luce wasn't too sure if she likes where this conversation is going, yet what could she do? It was the nature of the people in this house. All of them were trained for their positions from birth, willingly or not. They were skills and talents that had presented themselves early on and had been trained ruthlessly ever since. And she could feel that Tsunayoshi had something special about him. So she will allow it, for now.

As the Boss of the Arcobaleno it was her job to make sure that all of her team grew properly and were happy. Lal seriously needed to grow as a person- she wasn't the only one though. So she had no qualms over using her authority, just this once. "Lal Mirch, I command you to take this baby out for the day." Lal gave her a blank stare. Luce very rarely used her authority like this. "I don't care what you do, nor where you go. Yet you are not to let this baby leave your sight, nor to be more than 1 metre away from you at any time. No harm is to come to him. You are not allowed to abandon him on anyone else either." The bag of baby supplies is slung around her neck and the baby placed in her arms. Being spun around, she is practically kicked out of the house.

So now she was alone with the useless brat. At least he wasn't crying.

Well she wasn't going to waste her day just because of some silly burden. This could be training for civilian interaction. There may be someday where she had to work whilst protecting a civilian and this would be good practice for her.

Walking down the street, she turns left at the restaurants and walks into the woods on that side of the Island. She is nearing the training grounds when Tsunayoshi whimpers and grabs the front of her suit. Looking down, the baby is waving towards some trees and looks worried.

Looking in that direction, she catches a glimmer of green that shouldn't be in that tree. Grabbing the gun she had tucked away, she aims and shoots at the intruder.

"Gyak!" the man shouts as he falls from the tree. Tsunayoshi grabs her again, pointing in a different direction. Forewarned, she had just enough time to spin round and point the gun in that direction before the bush rustles and a woman jumps out at her. One shot to the forehead and the woman stands down.

"That was pathetic! Even the baby noticed you!" _Although before I did. Maybe he does have some potential after all. _The pair infront of her bow their heads in shame and defeat. "Well, let's start training." She huffs, striding through the rest of the woods. They come out of the trees and into a grassy area which ends in some cliffs. Below the cliffs is a sandy beach and the clear warm blue sea.

Knowing she was going to be hindered by the burden in her arms, as well as the limits set by Luce, she decides to change her tasks for today. "Alright pups, we're going to be doing target practice today. Be glad Colonnello isn't here to put you all to shame!" Even if she was gruff, she still gave credit where it was due, and not that she would ever admit it, but Colonnello was a better shooter and sniper than she was.

The trainees scrabble around, finishing what they were doing and rushing to fulfil her orders. "What weapon first Ma'am?" asks one man.

She thinks for a moment before barking "Start with the crossbows." Trainees shout in agreement and run over to the storage shed to grab the weapons. There was no need to worry about them getting stolen. This was Mafia Row, where normal criminals feared to tread. No mere thief was going to get here. Everyone on the island knew they were her's and stayed far away from this area; they had learnt what happened if someone stole her equipment. Plus, this was a private retreat, so no criminal activities happened here. There were three forces on the Island that enforced the no fighting/crime rule.

Her trainees line themselves up infront of the targets, bows out for her inspection. After slapping a few silly for not looking after their weapons correctly, she settles back down at a good vantage point and shouts at them to begin.

Tsunayoshi had stayed quiet since the incident in the woods. Ever since he had seen everyone else, he had been watching with rapt concentration and focus. Even now, as Lal looked down to check if he was awake, he was watching the trainees intensely. Lal allows him to continue since he wasn't making any noise or fuss. After watching for 5 minutes or so, Tsunayoshi makes a discontented noise. Lal looks down at him to see if he wanted anything, yet he was still watching the trainees. So she did too. The trainee missed the shot, the arrow going wide. So of course Lal verbally bit his head off, telling the trainee that lives could have been lost if he wasn't careful.

Another 7 shots later, and the baby once again makes a sad noise. And the trainee misses the target. It was even a different trainee too. When the third person misses as the baby makes a noise, she decided to do something about it. "None of you should be allowing this baby to distract you. Just because he makes a noise is no excuse for missing the shot." The trainees look at her in confusion.

"Ma'am, we can't even hear the baby from over here. I didn't even know he'd made a sound."

"Fine. We're moving onto throwing knives." She growls. _What's up with this child then?_

From then on she keeps a closer eye on the baby. Every time he made a sound, the trainee throwing missed. At one point, the baby outright screamed, whilst pointing at the trainee. Giving the trainee a good look over, she sees the problem immediately. "Oi trash for brains! Drop the knife." Scared of the louder than usual shout, the trainee immediately drops the knife. "The way you were holding that, the moment you raised your arm back it would have released and hurt those behind you. You put the others at risk!" The trainee went pale realising what they had almost done, and quickly started to apologise.

The day continued in a similar fashion. None of the trainees dared to say anything when she started to feed the baby a bottle of milk. She still sat there watching them like a hawk. If anything, she was even scarier with the baby in her arms than she usually was. All the trainees knew that if they dared to suggest it was because of a motherly protective instinct they wouldn't make it out of here with any unbroken bones.

Seeing that the sun was soon going to set, she gave the trainees the last order of the day. "Enough! I'm going home now." Now whilst it didn't seem like an order, the trainees had been with her long enough to know what that actually meant. After giving their weapons a clean, they grab what equipment they need and disappear into the woods.

She gives them 10 minutes before she sets off home. She takes the same route to and from the training ground every day to give the trainees time to practice their traps. She wasn't surprised not to see any of them as she enters and makes her way home. Yet once again the baby makes a noise and points her in a different direction. Highly suspicious, she follows the baby's guidance, and makes it home without encountering any traps at all.

"Ma'am, how did you do that? You didn't walk near any of our traps. Usually you at least come close enough to nearly get caught, but this time you barely came close enough to see them." Asks one of the more forward trainees.

"Hmm, I need to test my skills too every now and again," she lies. "Dismissed." They all run off to undo their traps and go home for the night.

Lal, meanwhile, practically runs home. Slamming open the front door she shouts, "Viper!"

"Living room," says Fon, peeking his head out of one room. Nodding in thanks she strides down the hallway and into the living room. The others all go there too, wondering how her day with Tsunayoshi went.

"So Lal, are you wearing a fluffy dress?" asks Viper as soon as Lal opens the door. Lal is shocked by the question and momentarily forgets what she was going to say.

"Um, no." She replies.

"Are you cooing at the baby and being as frivolous as Luce can be at times?"

"No I am not!" Lal growls back.

"Did any of the men try to overpower you? Were any of the woman spiteful about you?"

"No… they didn't." She mumbles.

Viper 'humphs' over her win. "So you are still the same old you then. As we all are. Or hadn't you noticed that having the baby has changed nothing?" Lal swears that Viper would have one eyebrow raised and would be giving her a look. Lal looks down at the baby, who smiles up at her cheerfully. Suddenly, Lal remembers what she came in the room for, and it wasn't to prove Viper right.

"What did you do to this child? Did you give him some of your psychic powers? Or were you whispering in his ear or something?" she shouts, holding the baby away from her.

Everyone looks at her weirdly, since they all vaguely know what she's talking about. Verde immediately gets his Baby Observation book out. "Tell me exactly what happened to cause you to think so."

"And for the record, no it was not me." Adds in Viper. So Lal explains what just happened not moments earlier as well as what had happened during the day.

"It's like he has a built in radar or something." Comments Skull in awe afterwards. Reborn and Colonnello each give the lackey a good punch and a kick for such a stupid thought, even if they may have thought so too.

"Well I have no clue what it is, nor does it seem as if the baby has a clue either. He just gets these feelings and acts on them." Says Viper, opening her eyes after a 'conference' with the baby.

When she opens her eyes, she finds that Verde, Lal and Reborn all have a dangerous gleam in their eyes. She suddenly felt both sorry and worried for the baby.

"I don't care, the important thing is that he has it," says Lal.

"It'll be a great scientific study." Grins Verde, a tiny bit of his Mad Scientist side coming through.

"And we can put it to use," says Reborn, smirking hazardously.

It seems that our Tsunayoshi is in for a hard childhood.

* * *

><p><strong>And that ends the introduction arc.<strong>

**So remember:**

_The first step is usually the easiest, it's the second step that's the hardest. But once you start it's hard to stop, for you are never fully in control. But once that step is taken, you'll look back and see, that nothing is really different, for you are still the same old you._

**Join me as we take stroll down Mafia Row.**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 05 March 2012**

**Edited: 27 February 2013.**


	12. Under the Short Lived Sky

Chapter 12

Under a short lived Sky

**Hehe, Um, guys, I have a tiny confession. Not that you can tell from my fic, but I actually don't like babies. Yeah, I know right. So that's why…**

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi stands at the gate to the Arcobaleno's house, looking at the wooden carvings on the oak doors, and to be honest, he's scared. His grip on Luce's hand tightens.<p>

This was the first time he'd been allowed out of these gates.

Ever since he could remember they had told him not to go outside of these gates. He didn't know why, but he had never needed to go outside of these gates anyway. And if it stopped them from using that big scary tone on him, then he'd listen to them. He didn't like that tone. It meant he'd done something wrong.

"Nu-ah" Tsunayoshi shakes his head. "Luce, Natsu~." Luce looks down at him with her eyebrow raised. Oops, he'd nearly forgotten. Um what was that word again? "Please?" Luce smiles down at him.

Luce crouches down to be on his level. "You want Natsu to come too?" Tsunayoshi vigorously nods his head, and looks up at her with puppy dog eyes. Luce looks at him for a moment before squeezing her eyes shut and squealing. She swears that her little boy got cuter every day! So standing back up once again, she turns towards the house and shouts "Ne, Skull?" A few moments later Skull's head appears out of a window.

"Yeah Luce? Everything alright?" he shouts back. Surely something couldn't have gone wrong already.

"Tsunayoshi wants Natsu. Be a dear and get it for him." She points to Tsunayoshi, who is reaching his arms out towards Skull in askance.

"Sure sure! One minute!" and Skull scrabbles away from the window. 30 seconds later, he's running down the path with Natsu in his hands. Reaching Tsunayoshi he crouches down too. "Take good care of Natsu alright. We don't want him to get lost again do we?" Tsunayoshi shakes his head and reaches for Natsu once more. Skull hands Natsu over before ruffling Tsunayoshi's hair. "have fun alright"

During this time, Luce's opened the huge wooden gate. Seeing this Tsunayoshi grabs Skull's leg as he tries to leave. As the big wooden gates clunk fully open, Tsunayoshi jumps and hugs Skull's leg fully, trying to find protection behind it.

"haha, Tsunayoshi, you can't do that" Skull tries to detach the child, but Tsunayoshi firmly keeps his grip. Having no other choice, Skull tickles Tsunayoshi sides. Tsunayoshi screams and giggles, letting go in the process. "Go on with Luce then" Skull prods.

"I'm… scared" Tsunayoshi admits, looking down and hugging Natsu tightly.

"Well, you've got Natsu with you right? So there's no need to be scared. Groar!" Skull fake growls like the lion Natsu is supposed to be.

"Yes. You stay here?" Tsunayoshi asks timidly. Skull gives the boy a hug across the shoulders.

"I'll be here when you get back. I promise." And with that, he gently pushes the boy towards the gate.

Luce stands on one side, the side of the rest of the world, whilst Tsunayoshi stands on his side, the side of home and his whole world.

**Bang! **

"Heeii!" Tsunayoshi jumps in fright at the sound and small explosion of dust behind him and runs forwards. He and Luce turn around to look back inside, looking up at the branches of a tree. "Bad Reborn!"

"Well, you are over the line are you not?" asks the Hitman from his lazy perch in the tree.

Tsunayoshi looks down at his feet and realises that he is. "Oh. Yeah, I am."

"Well then, let's go" Luce says, holding out her hand for him to take. Tsunayoshi slowly slips his hand next to hers, grips Natsu tightly and starts to walk down the path.

In case you're wondering, Natsu is a stuffed Lion toy Tsunayoshi carries with him everywhere. Since everyone else had an animal with them, like Leon, or Cosmo, or Fantasma, Tsunayoshi decided he wanted one too. A stuffed Natsu was what he ended up with since he was a little too scared to get a real animal. Not that he told the others, but something had felt very right when he had laid eyes upon the toy. Something deep inside him felt a connection to it, as if he should remember it from somewhere. So he had insisted upon it.

The walk wasn't too long, but he still had to walk kind of fast to keep up with Luce. Tsunayoshi wasn't as scared as earlier when something inside told him that Reborn was following them. He always felt safest when Reborn was around.

Pulling on Luce's hand for attention, Tsunayoshi tilts his head when she looks down. "Where?" he asks. Luce blushes at the cute expression Tsunayoshi has on, but maintains her calm- just.

"We're going to see my daughter Aria and her Family. You need to be good alright."

Tsunayoshi beams up at her "Yes!" and continues to bounce along the path.

However, when he sees where Luce is leading him- towards another gate- and sees that it's directly towards a stranger, that feeling of fear returns. He hides behind Natsu, bringing the lion up to his face so he can't see.

"My my Mother, have you brought a lion to see me?" asks the stranger, a hint of laughter in her voice. "I hope it's not a scary one"

Something tells him that this woman is okay to trust. "Grr! Heehee"

The stranger takes in a big gasp. "Oh no, it is scary. What will we do?"

Tsunayoshi peaks his head out from Natsu's side, looks at the lady and goes "Gao~"

Two surprisingly strong hands grab him around the waist, pick him up and tightly hug him. "Mother, isn't he the cutest! How do you live with a face that cute?"

"It's hard, believe me. I just want to cuddle him all day. It's so distracting" says Luce, quite serious.

The woman returns her gaze to Tsunayoshi and hoists him onto her hip instead so they can look at each other properly. "And what's your name?" she asks gently. Tsunayoshi looks to Luce for permission, and she nods. He also looks behind him to where he has a feeling Reborn is. There is no response, so he assumes it's alright.

"I'm Tsunayoshi!" he giggles cheerfully.

"Well, I'm Aria, nice to meet you. Can you tell me how old you are?"

"Heehee, I'm four!" He exclaims, proudly holding up three fingers.

Luce laughs. "One more Tsunayoshi" He looks over confused, so Luce holds up four fingers. He looks down at his own three, and then looks rather embarrassed.

"Oopsie." He giggles.

"Well, why don't we go inside." Suggests Aria. "Gamma, open the gate."

Tsunayoshi is both surprised and confused by what he sees inside.

"Luce, what are they doing?"

Luce however, is too busy tearing up to answer him, so Aria does. "They are showing Mummy how much they love her and how much they miss her. When you do that, it's called kneeling, and shows someone how much you respect them"

The whole of the Giglio Nero who had been under Luce's command once were kneeling in rows lining the path towards the house.

"I thought I told you never to do that in my presence" she scolds, still smiling at them though. All of the men and women on the floor smile back up at her.

Even though Luce sees and speaks to Aria a lot, it's not generally at Aria's house. They usually meet for coffee in one of the restaurants in Mafia Row Central. If Luce ever does visit the house, she uses the back entrance just for this reason: She didn't want people bowing to her in respect anymore.

"You had all better stand or I won't be introducing you to him" and she points to the bundling in Aria's arms.

Aria leans down to whisper in Tsunayoshi's ear and he giggles. Whilst the attention is on him, he tries his best to look imposing (but ends up pouting and looking adorable) he claps his hands whilst looking at the people on the floor. "Stand"

Luce smiles at Aria, perfectly understanding. All the kneeling Mafioso stand.

He claps once again "Inside" and points to the house. "And… And" he can't remember what the last word was, so he looks back to Aria for help. Obligingly she re-whispers her last order "Coffee!"

Smiling at the little boy, they all follow his orders. Clapping was something Luce has used during her reign as Boss, and showed that her orders were absolute. The clap drew attention to the order and caused a silence when they were all arguing. Aria had also picked up the tradition, so it was funny to see the child use it too.

Aria and Luce follow the mob inside and walk into a private living room. Moments later, Gamma appears with a tray full of coffee and cake.

He sits there and sits there, but it's obvious that even though the conversation may be about him, there is actually no need for him to be there. So he does what any bored child does, and leaves the room.

He walks around carefully following the sound of playful shouting and laughing. That sounds like a good place to go. As he peaks around the door he finds the same man who had brought the cake in to Luce. He's got a child sat on his lap and is reading a story to him. Slowly Tsunayoshi creeps in closer and closer, until he sits at the man's feet. The man looks down at him, but shrugs his shoulders and continues on reading.

"So then the knight rode in and saved the Princess, stopping any of the bad men from harming her."

"What's a… knight?" Tsunayoshi asks. Gamma turns the book around to show the picture.

"They are people who protect others- It's a knight's job to make sure that no one else gets hurt, even if that means harming someone else"

"Ah, so like Reborn then! He goes around stopping bad guys from harming Luce, right?" He tilts his head, wondering whether he's gotten that right.

Gamma just bursts out laughing. "Reborn, a knight…!" but upon seeing that Tsunayoshi is totally serious, he rethinks over what Tsunayoshi had just said. "When he's protecting Luce then yes, Reborn is like a knight"

"That's so cool!" shouts Tsunayoshi, clapping his hands. "I want to be a knight too. I'll stop bad men harming Luce, and Viper and Lal, and even Skull!"

"That's a nice thought Tsunayoshi. Make sure to tell Skull that alright." Tsunayoshi spins around to see Luce standing in the door way. He runs over and hugs her. "Come on, we're going home."

"Okay" Tsunayoshi smiles sweetly. He turns around and waves to the pair who were reading the book. "ByeBye!" They wave back at him.

As Tsunayoshi leaves the Giglio Nero base, he waves and says 'byebye' to everyone, since that's what Luce taught him to do. Everyone smiles back and says bye too.

* * *

><p>"Did you enjoy today Tsunayoshi?" Luce asks as they walk back inside the Arcobaleno gate.<p>

"Yeah I did. So did Natsu!" he replies, shaking the lion in enthusiasm. Yet as he looks back up at the house, his heart clenches and he stops walking.

"Are you alright Tsunayoshi?" Luce asks, concerned.

"Hmm, but something's missing." He says absentmindedly as he turns to look back down Mafia Row.

"Really, but you've got Natsu there." Luce was sure that Natsu was the only thing they brought with them. Tsunayoshi had both of his shoes on, his jumper and coat, so what could be missing?

"I don't know. Here" and he points to his heart "Says something is missing"

Luce's not sure how to respond to that, so changes the subject totally. "How about pancakes for dessert today?"

Tsunayoshi jumps and claps "Yay!" and starts to run ahead, wanting the pancakes quicker. Luce watches, knowing what's coming next.

Slam! "Ouchie" there it was. "Luce, I fell again" Tsunayoshi still hadn't mastered full control of running yet, although he might just be clumsy. She wasn't quite sure yet.

**Bang! Bang!**

Tsunayoshi quickly rolls out of the way and scrabbles to his feet. "Reborn!"

"What did I say? If you fall, you've got to get back up immediately. You shouldn't fall in the first place idiot" Reborn steps out from behind the trees and over to the little boy.

"Yes Reborn. I'm sorry"

"ANYway, let's go back inside" says Luce, emphasising her point.

As everyone enters the kitchen for dinner, Tsunayoshi stands up on his seat and looks around him. Clapping his hands he says "Sit".

The Arcobaleno look from him to Luce before bursting out into raucous laughter. "You're 100 years too early to try that boy." Informs Verde.

"Skull sit down then" Smirks Reborn. The stuntman looks shocked at the insinuation.

"Yeah Lackey, sit down then." Says Colonnello kicking him towards his seat. Skull glares back at them, but sits down anyway and pours himself a glass of water.

"Stop! Bad Reborn, bad Colonnello. I'm going to be Skull's knight, so you have to be good!" shouts Tsunayoshi. Skulls eyes open wide in shock and he starts crying.

"Tsunayoshi thank you!" he runs over and hugs the living daylights out of the boy.

The others burst out laughing once again. Although they all found it cute.

"You learnt a new word Tsunayoshi." Says Verde "Where did you learn that?"

Once Skull has let go, Tsunayoshi turns excitedly to Verde. He loves it when he learns new things and Verde always praises him when he does. "I learnt two new words today! A knight is a person who stops bad men from harming other people." Verde nods to show Tsunayoshi has gotten it right.

"And the second?" he prompts

"Um, Aria told me it. Um, it was. It was, ah! Kneeling. They all did it to Luce."

"Well done Tsunayoshi" Verde praises, ruffling his hair as he sits next to the boy.

"What I really want to know is why you are going _**there**_ tomorrow. I don't like that boy." Growls Reborn.

"Going where?"

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><p>… <strong>He grew up a little!<strong>

**Plus Tsunayoshi can do more things at this age than as a baby. He's still an explosion of cute though XD. And by all means, I am no expert on 4 year olds either. Do you think Tsunayoshi would be able to talk more or not?**

**Message me if you don't get why I've named this chapter as such, although next chapter's title may help you to understand. Aria's about 20 here, as is Gamma. **

**And Happy Easter to those who celebrate it, and Happy Chocolate Day to those who celebrate that, lol. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 8 April 2012**


	13. A World Hopping Maniac

Chapter 13

A World Hopping Maniac

Just taken a sneak peak at the next Reborn chapter and it looks really really good! I can't wait for the translations!

**To: A Random Human: Thank you for the compliment! Wow, smart little bro you have there. Thank you for the advice, I'll keep it in mind if I get stuck. I love the 'Yet' at the end. With Verde here, god knows what his Vocab will be! Thank you for taking the time to review too, it means a lot.**

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><p>Here they were once again at the Gate, and Tsunayoshi was determined not to go out.<p>

"No!" he shouts, stomping his foot. "Reborn doesn't like him so I don't!"

"How can you tell if you've never met him?" asks Luce, they had been arguing for about 5 minutes now. Tsunayoshi's argument seemed wholly based upon Reborn's opinion.

"Because Reborn said so!" He is really determined not to leave. Reborn has a reason for everything, apparently, so there was (most likely) a very good reason for him not to step out of those gates once more.

"Reborn's opinion isn't too trust worthy" says a deeper voice, walking past the little boy. Tsunayoshi looks up and gasps as the man walks out of the gate too.

"Are you coming too Verde?" asks Tsunayoshi excitedly. The scientist turns around and looks at the little boy.

"I am. I have some people to visit." And that was all Tsunayoshi needed to hear. Running down the path, he nearly trips once more, but Verde catches him.

"Sorry." Tsunayoshi says, standing back upright. As he and Verde start to walk down the rest of the path, he gingerly reaches up and grabs Verde's hand. The scientist merely adjusts his grip and continues walking.

Luce would never understand why Tsunayoshi liked the more… eccentric and down-right dangerous people in their little made up family, more than the peaceful side. However the important thing was he was out of the gate, whether she made it happen or not.

"Why doesn't Reborn like this person?" Tsunayoshi asks, genuinely interested.

Verde grunts before saying "In case you haven't noticed, Reborn doesn't like a lot of people. It's part of his background to be suspicious of people." Tsunayoshi makes a little 'oh' sound, before continuing on with the walk.

They stop infront of a gate that is next to Aria's one. Yet before they can even ring the bell, the gate opens. Little Tsunayoshi can barely register a person dressed in a whole lot of white before something is placed in his mouth. He takes a step backwards before realising what's in his mouth: a marshmallow. Smiling at the taste, he finishes it, before looking up at who gave it to him.

With the gate now fully open, he can see that there are three little boys waiting for them. All seemed to be the same age as him. The first one had a large bag of marshmallows in his arm and white hair. The second boy was blond, wearing a green all in one and special glasses like Verde wears sometimes when he's dealing with metal. The third one was hiding behind the other two, clutching his stomach. He had red hair and glasses on.

"Hello Luce, Verde. Nice of you to visit." Says the white haired boy, smiling at both of them.

Tsunayoshi takes a few steps backwards and hides behind Verde's leg. He has this strange feeling that he should be scared of this boy, yet why should he if he's never met him before? No matter how he tries to talk himself out of it, there is just this feeling that the boy before him could harm him really badly.

Luce notices this, but just assumes that Tsunayoshi is shy at meeting new people. Grabbing his arm, she pulls him away from Verde's legs and introduces him to the three boys.

"Tsunayoshi, this boy here is called Byakuran. The blond one is called Spanner" said boy rummages around in his pocket and produces a funny shaped lollipop. Something inside Tsunayoshi tells him that this boy is alright, so with a nod from Verde, Tsunayoshi accepts the gift with thanks. "And the one hiding at the back is Shoichi." The boy waves and moves to stand on Spanners other side.

"Verde, we've got something cool to show you" says Spanner. Verde smiles down at the two boys and gestures for them to lead the way.

Still keeping a hold of Verde's hand, Tsunayoshi follows everyone else inside the house. After a little walk they stop, and Byakuran opens a door. Peaking inside, Tsunayoshi can see a group of people older than him sat on sofas drinking coffee.

"Oi Idjit, where did you run off to?" says one of the boys inside.

Byakuran coughs and waves a hand in Luce's direction. "We have guests Zakuro." Those inside all turn to look, even the baby with bright blue hair.

"Ah-ho, it's so nice to have you join us, Miss Luce. Care for some tea?" asks a different boy with green hair.

"That would be lovely, thank you Kikyo" Luce looks down at Tsunayoshi. "Do you want to join me, or go with Verde?" she asks. Tsunayoshi takes another look inside, and gets chills. He points to Verde and Luce sighs. "Alright then, I'll see you later." She and Byakuran step inside, with the white haired boy waving to him before he shuts the door behind himself.

Tsunayoshi suddenly feels a lot calmer and turns to the two boys still with him. "Oh, sorry, my name is Tsunayoshi" he says waving at the pair. They both wave back.

"So what have you two been up to?" asks Verde as they walk down more corridors. Tsunayoshi watches on in amazement as Verde continues to have a conversation with the two. He had never seen Verde talk that much! Although he didn't get most of what they were saying either.

When they finally entered the correct room, Tsunayoshi decided it was funny how much like Verde's room it looked. There were books everywhere, along with long strings of wires, tiny versions of tools Verde had and lots of metal and screws and the like.

The boys plopped themselves down in the only clear space in the room. Verde sat down too and Tsunayoshi placed himself in Verde's lap. The boys opened their eyes wide at this, not believing the sight. Verde didn't really mind though, already more than used to it. Tsunayoshi quite often sat and watched him work. Instead, Verde just brought his hands around the child to pick up the contraption set infront of him. Bringing it closer to himself, he had also absentmindedly brought it to a place that was easy for Tsunayoshi to look at it too.

They were interrupted from their inspection by Shoichi laughing. Verde raises an eyebrow "What's funny?" Even Spanner has a slight smile on his face.

"Nothing really" admits Shoichi. "But you two both had the same expression on. Tsunayoshi was copying you perfectly."

"He was?"

"I was?" asks Tsunayoshi, tilting his head to the side. Tsunayoshi quickly forgets that as the light bounces off the item in Verde's hands. "Verde, what is this?"

Verde looks down at him, and then to the boys "Care to explain?" he offers.

Spanner sits up a little straighter and starts to explain "Light Piano". And that's all he says, as if that's all he needs to say.

Shoichi took over the explanation as if it was perfectly natural to do so. "Spanner came up with it one day. Basically, there is metal on the bottom of the keys. When you press a key, the Piano makes the correct sound like it should. But the metal also touches some more metal and lights up a light bulb too. So you get lots of different coloured lights as you play a song. Watch"

At the cue, Verde placed the tiny kiddy piano on the floor and Shoichi proceeded to play a scale by dragging his finger down the piano. As each note sounded, the light lit up, creating a trail from top to bottom and back up again. It looked as if the lights were chasing Shoichi's finger.

Verde took the piano back and flipped it over to show the wires underneath. It was really very basic. Just simply wires going from the keys to the battery to the bulb and back. "A good job boys" Verde praises. Tsunayoshi knows they must have done well since Verde never says that to anyone.

"Um" says Tsunayoshi, looking down at his hands. "Can I… Can I have a go?" the lights had looked really pretty and he wanted to see them again.

"Sure" says Spanner, giving permission. Verde lays the flat piano across his knees for Tsunayoshi's easy access. Slowly, he taps one key and jumps when it makes a noise. Gathering up courage, he taps another key and giggles when the light lights up. Having more courage now, Tsunayoshi taps lots of different keys, watching the lights flash on and off. It doesn't sound very good though.

Whilst Tsunayoshi is busy playing the two boys get up and run around the room picking up pieces of paper. Verde stops Tsunayoshi from playing once the two boys sit back down again. Spanner lays one piece of blue paper on the floor. Tsunayoshi looks at the white lines, wondering what it is.

"Robot" supplies Spanner "Mini-Mosca" Tsunayoshi had to admit that the vaguely human shaped drawing did look cute. Verde picks the paper up and looks at the hand written notes.

"So it's like a helper. It can do odd chores, and even has a … microwave, along with storage compartments. Hmm, sound really useful. You'd have to wait until you are older before you could possibly make it though." It is the first time Tsunayoshi sees Spanner smile.

"Um, what's a robot?" asks Tsunayoshi. It sounded cool whatever it was. Verde has to think for a moment to decide on how to make Tsunayoshi understand.

"Well, it's made from metal and looks similar to us; they generally have arms, legs, hands and such, but not always. What they do depends on what you tell them to do. It's a very basic term to describe a lot of things."

"Like this one" says Shoichi, holding up a piece of paper. It looked like a square box on wheels. "This is a vacuum cleaner that will do the cleaning by itself and won't bang into things. I haven't figured out how to do that part yet."

Verde laughs. "I'm noticing a theme here. Do you two hate cleaning?" Both boys nod. "And to answer your problem, you can make a program using lasers that can measure the distance between it and obstacles, can sense the things around it and manoeuvre around them" All three little boys look lost "You'll learn that later. Just know it can be done." Shoichi brightens up and claps.

"That's cool!" Both Shoichi and Spanner look rather excited to know something like that can be done.

"And finally, what did you two make with the moving motors and cogs I gave you?" Last time Verde was here, he had shown the boys the motors that could move up and down and left to right. He had left some behind that were already attached to power sources and metal poles, so basically it was like an art attack. The boys just had to join a few of the together and chose a shape- nothing too difficult since Verde had already done the hard work. Basically all it really needed was some glue and imagination.

Spanner gets up and walks over to a different corner of the room, before placing a teddy bear infront of Tsunayoshi and Verde.

"Teddy!" shouts Tsunayoshi- finally something he knew.

Oh, this was more than Verde was expecting.

Spanner reaches inside the teddy's back to press the power switch. The teddy's head moves left to right whilst his arms moves up and down as if asking to be picked up. Tsunayoshi giggles and claps at seeing the teddy move.

Picking it up and taking a look inside, Verde saw how simple it really was. It was amazing that it worked at all considering everything was stuffed rather haphazardly inside, but he hadn't expected anything more from the boys. The three component motors weren't linked at all, but rather just stuffed into the arm or head whilst the motor remained floating around in the teddy's chest. However he was amazed that they had even thought to put it inside something. The range of motion was limited by how far the teddy could already move, and by how far the fabric would stretch.

However Verde was impressed considering the young age of the two boys. They really were mechanical geniuses, especially with his help and guidance. When they grew up and understood what they were doing better, they would be nearly as good as him. Like with the Piano, they didn't know what electricity was, but it was enough for them to know that three wires, one battery and two pieces of metal to make a switch would make the light bulb light up. At this age, they didn't need to know about the movement of electrons, nor about conductivity. Tsunayoshi giggles once more, before copying the movements of the bear; rather jerky, slow and 'square' movements left and right.

"Hahaha, Verde look, I'm a robot too!"

"Gya! Tsunayoshi that was so cute!" shouts Luce, rushing over and hugging the life out of him. Whilst she has ahold of him, she walks out of the door and down the corridor. The little boy waves forlornly to his two new friends and has no choice but to be carried by the woman. A few moments later finds him sat on her lap in the room of scary people.

Yet Colonnello always told him to face his fears straight on and soon they wouldn't be scary anymore. Luce had always told him to get to know people before he judged them. So he would.

"Um, hello" he says, looking at the people around the room.

"Tsunayoshi, this is the Gesso Family. They are very good friends with my daughter Aria."

Tsunayoshi jumps a little when suddenly one of them is directly infront of him, holding a small yellow and white flower "Hello little one. My name is Daisy"

"Um, I really like your bunny" says Tsunayoshi pointing at the bunny in Daisy's arm and smiling.

"Thank you" says Daisy. "Do you want to hold her?" Tsunayoshi nods, and giggles as the bunny changes hands. He sits there playing with the bunny for a few moments, flopping its ears and making its arms move before he notices that all eyes are on him.

"Hee hee" he giggles nervously. Looking around for a change of subject, Tsunayoshi spots the baby being held in the green haired man's arms. What was he called again? Luce had said it earlier, umm, umm, Kikyo! That was it.

Jumping off Luce's lap Tsunayoshi toddles over to take a closer look. "Who's that?" he asks. Byakuran comes over and softly brushes the blue hair of the baby, smiling down sweetly at her. Taking her out of Kikyo's hands, Byakuran gently rocks her before offering her to Tsunayoshi "This is Bluebell." After seeing that display of affection, the something inside Tsunayoshi eases and the feeling completely goes away.

Luce comes up behind the boy and gently helps Tsunayoshi to support the baby. She's surprisingly heavy for a four year old to carry, so Tsunayoshi ends up sitting on the floor to better support her. After a few minutes, the baby gets bored of playing with Tsunayoshi and falls asleep, so Luce takes her away from him.

Tsunayoshi then goes and walks over to the masked man. The Gesso Family are interested to see what Tsunayoshi's reaction will be. Most people are scared of him. Even adults run in fear from him, disturbed by the mask, children don't even get close enough to see the mask, scared by his mere size.

"Don't be sad, I'm got scared." Says Tsunayoshi, patting the huge man's knee. "Just don't let Verde near your mask alright!" he smiles as he looks up, hands behind his back. The Gesso Family are amazed that someone outside of their tight family could even know about that. No one has even mentioned it. Even Luce doesn't know what Tsunayoshi means.

"What do you mean Tsunayoshi?" Asks Luce, looking confused.

Tsunayoshi spins around to face her, hands still behind his back, before bringing one finger to his lips and winking at the Gesso Family "Can't tell, it's a secret!" Then he bounces over to Kikyo before Luce can say anything. "Ah-ho"

Kikyo looks shocked for a moment, before smiling back and saying "Ah-ho"

"Ah-ho"

"Ah-ho"

"Heeheehee, you're so funny mister" the boy laughs, holding his stomach

"And you're so cute Tsu-chan" says Byakuran offering the bag of marshmallows. "Did you like Sho-chan and Spana-chan?"

"Yeah! They had moving lights and a moving teddy bear." Answers Tsuna, arm motions aplenty. He looks around at the older laughing people but feels like something is missing. "Isn't there one more of you?"

Byakuran gives him a funny look before deciding to play a game with the child. Leaning in close he whispers "Yeah, a Ghost"

Tsunayoshi pales and barely stutters out "A-a A GHOST!" he takes a few steps backwards, sees Byakuran nod before screaming "Wahhhh!". Spinning around he forces the door open and runs down the corridor "Verde! They have a ghost! Save me!"

Tumbling into the mechanic's room Tsunayoshi barrels into Verde, grabs him and starts bawling his eyes out. Sternly Verde tells the child "Tsunayoshi there is no scientific evidence proving ghosts are real. So stop crying."

Tsunayoshi sniffs and looks up. "But Byaku-chan said there was."

Verde sighs "I'm telling you there are not. Now it's time to go home."

"Alright" mumbles Tsunayoshi before turning to wave at his two new friends "Bye Bye! I had fun today"

Spanner 'hmm' in agreement and waves, whilst Shoichi says "We did too, come back next time Verde come over!"

Taking Tsunayoshi's hand so he doesn't get lost, Verde goes back to find Luce. "We're going now" he says as he walks past the door Tsunayoshi had left opened in his hasty escape. Tsunayoshi takes a peek inside the room as he passes and sees someone new in there. Tugging his hand out of Verde's he runs inside.

"Reborn? Wah! Put the Gun Leon down" he screams

"I knew I couldn't leave you in here with this brat" growls Reborn. "If he harmed you at all, I'm going to-"

"I was scared because he said there was a g-g-ghost in here." The small boy admits looking around the room suspiciously. Reborn glares at him before whacking him on the head.

"That was all? Grow up idiot. There are no such things as ghosts. How could you be scared of something that doesn't exist?" Sighing over Tsunayoshi's meekness, he picks the boy up over his shoulder and leaves the room.

"Sorry about Reborn" Luce apologises. She makes her farewells before following the men out of the house.

"Tomorrow you are coming with me somewhere safe." Informs Reborn as they leave the Gesso Family behind them.

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><p><strong>Now before you all have a go at me for how smart our mechanics are, I know that most 4 year olds couldn't do that. But this is Spanner and Shoichi who are being taught by Verde. Like I explained, they just copy the concept Verde shows them with no real understanding, alright. And who doesn't love the Mini Mosca from the anime?<strong>

**I hope you enjoyed the trip to the Gesso Family, join me next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 11 March 2012**

GYAAAA! I've just watched Rebocon 5 which I didn't even know was out. It is so funny, and even better than the ones before!

Reborn's VA does her opening with her background dancers wearing her costumes from other Rebocon's. And Spanner and Shoichi's simulation is even better than the Blue version. Spanner has this huge ps2 like controller and immediately stops the song and plays around with it, changing the lyrics too. Then a load of robots come out and start dancing and Shoichi doesn't have a clue what's going on. Spanner gives him these glasses and then Shoichi dances like the robots too- which is awesome. At the end Spanner puts on the glasses too, and both of them go off stage like a load of robots. It's so funny even if I don't have a clue what anyone is saying! And during Squalo's song, he's on stage with a sword battling the back up dancers! And you know those songs people sing together, like R27 Canvas or 61869 One night Star or they sing those live too! The Canvas with Reborn and Tsuna singing is my fav Reborn song atm.

There's this little ranking bit where the public could vote for songs under certain categories. In disk 1 the ranking is for 'ones that made you laugh'. Number 5 was Spanner and Byakuran's version of Lambo and I-pins Ramen song, which was really funny since they don't really show any emotion at all, just like in Blue. At 4 was Mukuro and Dino's Kufufufu but Dino's VA wasn't there so he didn't sing. Next at 3 was Lambo and Squalo, dressed in all-in-one cow suits! (yes I know!) like Lambo wears normally singing Lambo-san no Yabou . And if that wasn't enough, Spanner comes on with a fake 10 year bazooka, shoots it and sings as 15 year old Lambo since he does that voice too, dressed in the same cow suit the others are in. The two 'Lambo's' hide behind Squalo as they switch between their two ages with Squalo shooting the bazooka as they sing different lines of the song. And then the two Lambo's do the whole, Who are you, I'm Lambo bit, and then ask Squalo. Squalo does his little bit from his song Chinkonka no ame, and goes I'm Squalo, Superbi… and Little Lambo cuts him off. Next at 2 was Yamamoto and Reborn singing Reborn's cosplay party, which is really funny too. All of the others on stage have cards with Reborn's various cosplay throughout the series and hold them up when it's mentioned in the song. But what makes me laugh the most is Yama and Reborn's dancing! At number 1 was the Varia version of Tatta Latta- I loved it when they did it at Rebocon Blue. But this time, Levi and Lussuria do it too. It's practically the same as at blue, but with the two others added in.

Hibari's VA sings Pride really well, and as he leaves stage left, he stops, spins and glares at stage right where Mukuro comes on to sing End:Res, which was funny. And for Xanxus' song, the Varia all come on with Flaming tikki torches for the first half. The background dancers are really good too and full of energy like in Bloody Prince. Gokudera doesn't have any songs until after 1.5 hours! He sings the same song he did in Red where everyone goes into the audience and swings scarves about, Hashire I think. Then Ryohei's VA plays the harmonica really well before singing Looking at the sunny sky without any backing music and he's really good!

For the encore they sing to our promised place, with the Varia and the rest singing too.

And that's disk 1!

For Disk 2 they show what they did on other days/shows. So in a different show, Basil guest stars and they do Right now. Then Chrome sings afterwards. And then Yuni.

On a different day, Dino sings too followed by Lal's burning prayer and then Mammon sings her song! Mammon's VA is really cute too. Then there's 598033 familia followed by Byakuran and Shoichi doing gr8 story and then Xanxus, Squalo Bel Lussuria do funny sunny day.

Then there is a load of different rankings this time 'this made me numb' with the girls doing tatta latta, then Chikusa, Chrome and Mukuro sing Kufufu. Then it's supposed to be Yama and Squalo doing chinkonka no ame, but Basil plays squalo's part instead, and finally is Sakura addiction with Hiba and Mukuro.

Then there is a third set of rankings for you can feel the bond. In 5th was Reborn and Tsuna doing Yama and Goku's oretachi no joy with Tsuna holding a baseball for Yama and Reborn holding a fake dynamite for Gokudera. In 1st and 2nd place was Yama and Goku's other song, with them in second place and D18 version in first place. There was a funny bit where Dino and Hiba have to sing but Hiba doesn't want to, says no and goes sits back down as the intro is playing. Dino goes over to get him back up, so Hiba uses that opportunity to take centre stage and sing the opening. Since they went first, during the instrumental break, Gokudera comes on saying 'that's not right, we'll show you the right way' basically. Then all four sing together!

Sorry for the ramblings, I was writing as I was watching, lol. PM me if you want the link to watch/ download it. I don't own it in any form and all credit goes to the people who did the hard work alright.


	14. Rides on his Horse

Chapter 14

Rides on his Horse

**Wow Guys! Over 100 reviews and over 10,000 views. I'm so touched. I wish my Main Fic, Thief, had this much love. Thank you all for sticking with me and for all of the awesome reviews. I love chatting with you guys. So please continue to read on- there's a whole lot to do after Tsunayoshi meets everyone after all! And as some of you darling reviewers may know, this particular Phantom is more than willing to steal ideas in the middle of the night. So if there are any scenes or ideas you have/ wish for, then leave them by your bedside table and this Phantom will be more than willing to collect them (credit where credit is due of course).**

**For any DC and KID lovers out there, you should check out my latest fic called Devil's Contract Challenge. You don't have to take part in the challenge, but reviews on my heist would be nice. It's a different style to this and Thief, since I'm rather vague, never really naming anyone. There's this theme of serious mystery running through it. Of course if any of you want to take on the challenge, then I can't wait for your entries. **

**To A random Human: Thanks for reviewing once again! I expect Verde did, plus there are the others to watch over them. Thanks for the warning, but I did have Luce keep hold of Tsunayoshi and Bluebell so Tsunayoshi was never really holding her. People from the future arc's ages are hard to determine since there's the whole process of guessing their age to start off with, then taking off 10 years (the future bit) and then comparing that to Tsuna's age. In the latest manga chapters, she seemed younger than Tsuna and that lot, but older than Lambo, so in this fic, she's about 1-ish, 2 maybe. To be honest, I'm not really sure. I'm going to blame my confusion on Lambo, and you'll see why when we visit the Bovino Family later on.**

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><p>Tsunayoshi wasn't really too sure what to expect today. He was told they were going somewhere safe. Yet <em>Reborn<em> was the one to say it was safe. And Reborn's views on safe were drastically different from his own. However, none of the others seemed too worried, in fact they weren't worried at all. So it must be the good kind of safe and not Hitman Reborn's level of safe.

He hopes.

Luce had dressed him that morning, meaning that he was leaving the house in something she thought was cute. He was in a little hoodie that was made to look like a lion. So there was a whole lot of fluffy fur on the edge of the hood, and two little ears peaked out when the hood was up. If Luce's squealing was anything to go by- Tsunayoshi used it as a measure of how cute something was- then he must look nice. When Reborn saw it, he just pulled his fedora lower, growled at Luce and grabbed his hand, pulling Tsunayoshi out of the house.

"When you're older, I'll take you to get something more suitable. Women." He scoffs, pulling the hood down over Tsunayoshi's eyes.

They walk out of the gates with only a slight hesitation on Tsunayoshi's part, yet Reborn pulls him forwards rather than use Leon on him. "You can't be scared of the world outside Tsunayoshi." Reborn admonishes. "You can't learn how to deal with it if you don't leave the house. When meeting new people, you should never show fear. Fear is a weakness that the people here will pounce on. If you show them that nothing scares you, then they won't try to scare you. If you go around whimpering like a brat then they'll keep on making you scared. The world is all about appearances."

Tsunayoshi doesn't quite get all of what Reborn is saying, but he did get the bit about pretending not to be scared. Since Reborn was by his side, he knew that nothing would harm him, so he could pretend not to be scared. He knew deep inside that Reborn would always protect him.

"Plus, there is no reason to be scared of this guy. You can do more damage than he can at times. He's even more of a klutz than you are." Tsunayoshi found that hard to believe, since he was nearly always tripping on something.

They come to a stop at a gate next to the Gesso Family. On this gate there is a picture of 2 rearing horses, which to our little boy, look slightly scary. Reborn crouches down next to him and pulls Tsunayoshi's hood more firmly over his face before fluffing up the fur more. Reborn gives Tsunayoshi one of his smirks that means he's about to find something funny. Reborn doesn't even bother to knock before kicking the gate in and walking inside.

"GYAAAA!"

Running inside to see what Reborn's done now, since screams were nearly always his fault, Tsunayoshi finds a very scared looking 12 year old boy. Said boy falls flat on his face, harshly meeting the ground with an audible thump. Tsunayoshi quickly walks over to the boy, checking to see if he's harmed. The boy looks up and screams once again

"Lion!" he scrambles backwards, blood running from his nose due to the earlier impact. "Romario! There's a lion on the front lawn."

"I'm sure that Mr Reborn is using it to train you," says a voice from inside the house. The owner of the voice peaks his head out to see what all the fuss is about. By now he is more than used to such exchanges since Reborn implemented a variety of methods to train the young Don. He wouldn't be surprised if this Lion was green. Looking at the scene he doesn't know whether to laugh or roll his eyes. "Dino, it's a little kid, look he has arms and hands not paws."

Tsunayoshi realises that he's the lion, so walks over to the boy, tilts his head to the side and goes "Grr" before laughing at the older boy's expression. He decides that he likes this boy, agreeing with the feeling of trust in his gut.

A bullet whizzes between the two, Tsunayoshi jumping backwards and out of the way. Both boys know that means Reborn wants attention, so they immediately go back to his side. Leon changes into a hammer and Reborn proceeds to pound sense into his student. "Stop being such a scaredy cat you idiot. Mafia Don's don't scream at every loud noise and sudden entrance. Or do you want to be known as the only Don in Mafia history that is scared of cute 4 year olds?"

Tsunayoshi smiles since Reborn had just called him cute, but has the feeling it was actually an insult. To save this boy's pride, or what was left of it, Tsunayoshi takes his hood down.

"I don't want to be a mafia Don though Reborn." Whines the boy.

"My mission is to train you and I never fail a mission" Even though Reborn said that rather matter-of-factly, it sounded like more of a threat, and a promise of more pain to come.

"Oh~" goes Tsunayoshi, raising his head. "So you're the one Reborn tells me funny stories about!"

He boy drags a hand down his face. "Heehe, yeah, I'm Reborn's student. My name is Dino Chiavarone." And the boy holds out his hand.

Tsunayoshi looks up at Reborn for permission before giving the boy a hi-5. "My name is Tsunayoshi!"

Reborn starts to walk off towards the main house. "Romario, look after them, I'm going to speak to Don Chiavarone." The middle aged man nods. "Tsunayoshi, you had better be good or else I'll punish you when we get home."

Tsunayoshi immediately straightens "Heeii! I will Reborn. Promise." When the Hitman is finally out of sight, both boys relax.

"Boy, you must have it tough, living with Reborn." Says Dino, scared to death by just the mere thought. Slowly the pair start walking towards the side of the house.

Tsunayoshi tilts his head, a look of confusion on his face. "What do you mean? I love living with Reborn and the rest. And that was him caring."

"haha, sure it was. And I'm going to be one of the best Mafia Don's out there. People who care about you do not shoot guns at you." Dino seriously can't believe the boy infront of him. Maybe Reborn's whacked the little tot on the head with Leon too many times.

"The more bullets he shoots the more worried he is." Admits Tsunayoshi. Dino takes a look at the little boy and realises the he is totally serious. And how can a four year old tell that anyway? "He's just trying to keep me safe."

"By shooting at you" reiterates Dino. Safe and bullets didn't really go together. He felt as if he was talking to someone more mature than their age.

"He's teaching me to look after myself. I think… Or it could be that he likes shooting at people." Suggests the small boy, shrugging his shoulders. Dino was more inclined to go with the last option, but couldn't shake the feeling that the little child was right. "Plus, Leon's bullets never actually hurt. He's nice to me that way."

"Leon can be nice sometimes. Did Reborn tell you he gave me a pet? When I finished a really hard trial with Reborn, I asked to have Leon, but Reborn wouldn't let me. Instead Leon rewarded me with my whip and my pet Sponge Turtle Enzio."

At this point they had walked around the side of the house to come out at the back yard. Since the sun was really bright, Tsunayoshi lifts his hood back up to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Leon did? Wow that's cool. I hope Leon gives me a present one day!" says Tsunayoshi in awe. Reborn hadn't told him about that, although he did vaguely remember when Leon was 'ill'. Tsunayoshi had made sure to sleep with Leon each night to help the little chameleon get better.

"Yeah, do you want to see him?" Dino asks. Tsunayoshi vigorously nods his head, eager to see it. Dino reaches into his parka and pulls the turtle out.

However Dino somehow manages to trip at that point (he blames his shoe lace) and Enzio goes flying. Tsunayoshi manages to catch Enzio, but when the Turtle saw the Lion, he immediately bites Tsunayoshi. The little boy shouts at the pain and accidentally throws the 'threat' up in the air. Before the two boys can react, Enzio falls right into the pond.

"Gya, Oh no, oh no, oh no! Reborn's going to kill me if Enzio doesn't first. Quick Tsunayoshi run away from here." Shouts Dino, scrabbling up and moving to protect Tsunayoshi.

Tsunayoshi watches on in horror as the turtle fulfils its namesake and absorbs water like a sponge. Slowly it grows and grows until it's taller than the two boys. Looking up at the turtle, Tsunayoshi has this feeling that he knows exactly what it is like to be squashed by this turtle, and it's not a pleasant feeling. Firm hands grip him from behind and lift him up. Looking over his shoulder Tsunayoshi finds it's Dino's friend Romario.

"I've got the little one Dino." He informs his soon-to-be Boss.

Upon hearing the voice, Dino nods and Tsunayoshi swears that it's a different person stood infront of him. Dino is suddenly all serious and hasn't tripped over the rocky footing at the edge of the pond yet.

"Dino, maybe you should get him away from the water" suggests Tsunayoshi. If water made him get bigger, then surely without water he'll stop growing. Tsunayoshi wondered if squeezing the turtle would remove all of the water, just like the sponge in the bath. He didn't think they had a towel big enough to dry the turtle off with, so what else could they do?

"Romario, I'm going to try to get Enzio away from the house, so keep Tsunayoshi safe alright." Dino slowly starts backing off in the direction of the rest of the garden, away from the house. "Sorry Enzio, but… Look a lion" and he points to Tsunayoshi. Acting his part, Tsunayoshi holds his arms up, hands curled into claws, and gives off his fiercest growl. Enzio looks in that direction, gets scared by the 'lion' and backs away from it and consequently the house too. Once Enzio is far enough away, Dino flicks his whip, entrapping the turtle's feet, causing it to fall on the ground.

After a lot of hard thinking, Tsunayoshi finally has the perfect idea on how to get Enzio back to his original size. Knowing that Reborn must be somewhere close by, possibly inside the house, and as a result Leon would be too, he shouts out in his loudest voice "Leon!" A window is opened on the second floor and the chameleon crawls down the side of the house, across the garden, up Romario's leg and into Tsunayoshi's arms. "Could you help me out please?" he politely asks the Chameleon. If it was anything like its owner, being polite helped. When the chameleon nods, Tsunayoshi continues "Could you be a really big hair dryer and dry Enzio off?" Whenever his hair was wet, one of the others would dry it off with the hair dryer, so it should work on the turtle too.

The chameleon looks up at the window that Reborn is currently leaning out of and receives permission from its partner. So, with permission granted, Leon does as Tsunayoshi asks. The little boy claps in glee and bounces in Romario's arms as his plan works and the turtle quickly returns to being pocket sized.

"Little Bro, that was awesome. I've never gotten Enzio quietened down that quickly before!" cheers Dino, running towards them.

"Little Bro?" questions Tsunayoshi, finger to his lip.

"Yeah, I'd be happy to call you little bro. Do you not want to?" Dino asks, coming to a stop infront of Romario.

"Nope! I love it. Big Bro Dino!" laughs Tsunayoshi. Romario passes Tsunayoshi over to Dino and the pair start laughing over their achievement.

"Hmm, nice team work there you two" comments Reborn, jumping down to their level. "However…" Reborn aims Gun-Leon and fires at Dino's feet. "You shouldn't have tripped in the first place." Since Romario is still around, Dino can manage to jump out of the way of the bullets in time. Tsunayoshi just starts laughing, more than used to this by now. Although he was usually in Skull's arms when Reborn fires.

"See Big Bro Dino, Reborn cares about you too!"

* * *

><p>At dinner, Tsunayoshi was sat on Colonnello's lap whilst reciting with great detail and enthusiasm about his day. The others all found his voices and hand movements cute, especially when it came to clumsy Dino. The little boy insisted though, that Reborn said his own lines.<p>

"Great tactic's there, kora" compliments Colonnello, with a tiny nod in his direction from Lal.

"Indeed, a good use of your brain there Tsunayoshi. Well done" comment's Verde before taking a sip of his wine as if he hadn't said anything.

One person however, was still stuck in the past, and their anger had reached boiling point. "You left my Darling Tsunayoshi to face that Maniac of a turtle with only Dino for help? What if he had been stepped on? What if he had been harmed? Reborn how could you!"

"Luce calm down, Reborn would have stepped in" says Fon, holding the woman in her seat.

Tsunayoshi keeps half an eye on the fight, since it is about him, as Viper starts to talk to him. "Tsunayoshi, we're going to go out tomorrow to meet someone important, so be on your best behaviour alright." Tsunayoshi nods, since he really doesn't want to disappoint her.

Later on that night, Tsunayoshi allowed the woman to fuss and check him over in the bath, to show her that he had sustained no injuries during his adventure. He even had to sleep with her just to make her stop worrying.

* * *

><p><strong>I just totally realised that RebornXDino is a pairing I've never ever heard of seen before.  
><strong>

**And in case you are wondering why I use Viper over Mammon, it's purely because I like that name better. Since she's not cursed at the moment, I expect that she would use this name anyway. **

**A bit of a harder hint this time, but guesses are welcome!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412. **

**First Published 14 April 2012**


	15. As time moves on

Chapter 15

As Time moves on

**To a random human**: That quote from chapter 12 is a foreshadowing the next major plot point, well done for noticing and commenting upon it. Lol, well it is Dame-Dino. I've taken your thoughts into consideration and will make it part of the story instead of answering you directly since other people will want to know the answers too, and not everyone reads these. He was taken out when he was a baby and forgot about it, like the shopping trip in an earlier chapter.

**To feeling stupid:** Thank you for taking the time to review and welcome to Mafia Row. I hope that your name isn't a reflection of that revelation. Don't feel stupid since not everyone has noticed.

Yes, these chapters are writing out a sentence. Take a look at chapter 1-11 titles and then at the sentences at the end of Lal's chapter and they are the same. The same is true of this section. As I introduce every Family, it becomes part of a sentence. So you'll read the whole thing once I've introduced them all.

* * *

><p>"Ne, Luce." Says Tsunayoshi one morning during breakfast. Amazingly, for once, everyone was at the table since Viper was up before Noon. Luce looks over at the little boy. He looks rather hopeful and excited; she swears that she could see a little wagging tail. She nods her head to show he's gotten her attention. "Can I have some friends over?"<p>

"NO" The answer wasn't particularly loud, but everyone in the room, Luce, Fon and Skull included, had denied Tsunayoshi's request. The force behind their voices made him widen his eyes in shock, before looking around at them.

"Why not?" he asks, confused. In fact, he didn't ever remember anyone coming to their house. Everyone always met their friends out of the house.

"Tsunayoshi, we are the Arcobaleno, you know what that means right?" asks Fon, leaning forwards to see the boy better.

Tsunayoshi nods his head. "Yeah! It means you're really strong and cool and that you're famous" he replies, beaming at them.

Reborn straightens his fedora before looking sideways at Skull. "Well, most of us are" he mumbles, but everyone still heard it. Skull glares at him, but backs off in fear when Reborn glares right back.

Fon ignores Reborn and concentrates on the small boy. "Yes, we are. Since we are famous, everyone likes to know about us, but that's not a good thing. So we keep our private lives separate from everyone else. This house is a place for us to relax and be ourselves without acting the part that others project on us" Tsuna tilts his head not understanding. "For example, Reborn is really scary at work and likes to act mysterious, but he's not like that at home." Even though Reborn may not like the description, Tsunayoshi had gotten the idea. He had heard stories of Reborn's reputation.

"Because we are the best people in our chosen fields, some people would come into the house to try and look at our equipment, or to steal ideas and use them themselves. So we don't let anyone in the house. Plus this house can be dangerous for outsiders" Tsunayoshi nervously giggled. He'd learnt that the hard way. The amount of times someone had to save him from Verde's mechanical experiments, Colonnello's traps, Lal's bombs, Reborn's security equipment and Viper's anti-theft illusions were numerable. He knows where most of them are now and can get around some of them.

"We never know if those entering the house are going to try and kill us either." Comments Reborn, picking up a slice of toast. Leon wraps around his neck tighter. "Even if we do let those we trust in, there's the chance that they've turned on us" This made Tsunayoshi feel quite sad. "Plus, we don't know if someone is going to take advantage of our distraction to enter the house and assassinate us. Not that they would stand a chance, but I'm sure some would try." Colonnello, Luce and a few of the others all nod in agreement.

"Al-alright then" says Tsunayoshi, disheartened that people could treat his family like that. They didn't deserve that at all. "Can I still go and visit them?" he asks, looking up. Skull smiles at the little boy before ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Sure, as long as one of us comes with you" he informs. Skull knew that there would be more than one person watching over him at any one time, but he didn't want to get beaten up by Reborn for mentioning it. If Reborn wasn't with Tsunayoshi directly, then he was always nearby watching. Just like the incident in the Gesso Family's house. None of the others mentioned Reborn's odd behaviour, not wanting Reborn to be self-conscious of it. Apart from Leon, Reborn had never been this protective over something before. In fact, none of them had really, being rather solitary people.

Viper stands from the table. "Come on, we don't want to be late." She says, holding a hand out for him. He wiggles off the chair and follows her, grabbing her hand in the process. She leads him upstairs, handing him his clothes for the day before he wonders into the bathroom. A few minutes later, he walks back out again, in black trousers and a white button shirt.

Seeing that he's managed to mess the buttons up, she shakes her head and kneels down to fix it for him. She then lifts his collar up and ties the tie around his neck. Finally, on goes the black blazer. Seeing himself in the mirror at the end of the hall he giggles. "I look like Reborn now! Or Verde!"

However, by the time he's gotten downstairs, the humour has worn off. "Viper, it's hot. Can I take it off yet?" he whines. She ignores him and leads him to the doorway and helps him put his shoes on.

"Stop whining." Says Reborn, flicking him on the forehead. Tsunayoshi scowls before rubbing the spot. All three exit the house and start walking towards the gate.

As the gate opens, Tsunayoshi takes a look outside and really wishes to return back to the house. The world outside looked big and scary. Everything was bigger than him, it was all unfamiliar, he didn't know what to expect. The house was warm and friendly, and even if there were accidents with the traps, Tsunayoshi knew they were there for protection.

Viper and Reborn look down and notice this. They had slightly expected this, but keeping Tsunayoshi in the house until now had been everyone's idea. They had taken him out when he as a baby and no one knew who he was, but the small boy still became famous. Who wouldn't if they were seen with every Arcobaleno? Reborn had expected the whispers and rumours; they were natural in the mafia. But when hitmen started attacking them on their outings with the child as their main priority, well that made Reborn furious. It made them all mad, and these assassins had met some weird, wonderful and hugely painful ends. Luce was getting tired of all the clean-up she had to do, so she decided to put a stop to it. Sadly, that meant little Tsunayoshi's freedom, but at least he was at an age where he wouldn't miss it. As a baby, he couldn't go anywhere without someone carrying him. As a toddler, the house and garden (the highly secure garden that had automatic sniper rifles targeting every **inch** of the outside. Plus, Viper's illusions stopped anyone seeing anything other than an empty garden anyway.) had been a big enough area to freely explore without feeling trapped. Not that Luce told anyone, but she also considered her little Tsunayoshi to be too cute to share with anyone else. She wanted him all to herself whilst she could enjoy it.

However now with Tsunayoshi becoming more active and intelligent every day, they couldn't keep him trapped for much longer. It wasn't like Tsunayoshi was unprepared though. Just like Luce had feared, as soon as Tsunayoshi had mastered walking, running and basic body control, the others, herself not included, had practically jumped on the poor child. Reborn's bullets were only one such example. Not that Tsunayoshi needed to be pushed into this training. He had been fascinated with everything they did, and his natural curiosity had led him to try out everything the others had offered. Watching Fon practice in the garden had led to Tsunayoshi wanting to learn it too. After seeing Colonnello and Lal's traps- quite often being the victim- he had asked them to teach him. The soldiers had laughed at Tsunayoshi's reason though: _to try and capture Reborn so he could play with the Hitman more_. After seeing the boy's ambition, even Lal had decided to help. Not that she treated him any differently to her other recruits, but Luce though Lal was less harsh and softened her voice when shouting at the child, which was certainly not only an improvement, but also a miracle.

There were two reasons why the Arcobaleno had decided to introduce Tsunayoshi to the other residents. Firstly, they wanted to widen the boy's knowledge of the world around him. And by world they specifically meant the mafia. If the boy got used to it at a young age, then there would be less shocks and pain later on. Secondly was to show everyone that Tsunayoshi wasn't someone to mess with. Over these four years, they had gotten used to Tsunayoshi's strange feelings and sentences. It had surprised them more when he had started to talk since he could finally tell them what he was feeling without Viper as the medium. However, they wanted to see what Tsunayoshi thought of everyone else. They had had some interesting results already, especially at the Gesso Family's house.

"boy, we don't have time for this. This man is very important and we can't keep him waiting." Both Viper and Reborn had now said this man was important. He didn't want to disappoint either of them, _especially_ not these two. Hearing a gun click, Tsunayoshi immediately pulls on Viper's hand, running from the 'threat'. "Good boy" Reborn whispers, placing a tiny fedora on his head too. Now he really did look like Reborn!

"He's not scary is he?" Tsunayoshi asks, looking up to Viper. She picks the boy up and continues to walk.

"No in general. He's only scary if you've done something naughty." She says. "Otherwise, he can be quite nice."

"He's the Boss of the third most powerful Family on the island." Remarks Reborn. Tsunayoshi's eyes grow wide.

They stopped at the gate to this new Family's house. It was perpendicular to the left of the Arcobaleno house, directly opposite and facing the Giglio Nero's house. On the gate was carved a symbol. There was a shield like shape in the centre with a single bullet. Above that were two crossed riffles, with a winged Clam sitting atop the cross. Underneath was one word: Vongola.

Tsunayoshi is slightly surprised when Reborn and Viper jump over the gate instead of entering through it. He is even more amazed that no one notices them. Some people did nearly walk into them though.

"Illusions" Viper whispers in his ear. "Reborn loves a grand entrance." They arrive at the busiest part of the mansion, where lots of men in black suits were lounging around. Sitting at one of the empty couches, Reborn spreads his arms along the back as if he owned the place. A nod to Viper and the illusion comes off.

"Chaos" Reborn says, voice deep and dangerous yet smooth. There are gasps all around as people realise who is sitting in their presence. Within moments, someone has run off to find the only person Reborn must be here to see. A few seconds later and an espresso is in his hands, a cup of herbal tea in Viper's and a bottle of Cola in Tsunayoshi's. Reborn glances at the boy for any sign of a reaction, but the boy is happily sipping away on his cola. Whilst he knew that Vongola was safe territory due to his connections to their Boss, he couldn't put it past an assassin to poison their drinks. Lal had found out that Tsunayoshi could detect poisons when she took him to train the recruits one day. Again, it was that mysterious feeling that they boy couldn't explain, but it had found every poisoned drink and dish. The recruits though had not been as lucky.

"He will see you in his office." Bows the Boss's Right Hand Man. They stand up and follow the man down a series of corridors before being introduced and bowed into a room.

"Reborn, Viper, nice to see you again" says the man standing up slowly.

Tsunayoshi is surprised at the man infront of him. When Reborn had said he was the Boss of the third most powerful Family on the island he hadn't expected the old man sat infront of him. He must be around 70 years old, with a full head of silvery white hair. He was leaning on a cane too. But there was something in the smile that the old man gave him… it was incredibly warm.

Reborn holds a hand out to the man, stopping him from standing up "It's alright Timoteo"

"And who's this young man?" Timoteo asks, looking at Tsunayoshi, who was still in Viper's arms. Timoteo raises his eyebrow at this but doesn't comment.

Reborn and Viper laugh. "As if you don't already know" Viper says.

"I do know, but I'd still like for one of you to say it, make it official" the old man smiles, eyes glittering with laughter.

"This is Tsunayoshi" they both say, looking at the smiling boy.

Tsunayoshi isn't scared of the man infront of him at all. In fact there is a strong sense of family. So without any fear, Tsunayoshi waves enthusiastically at him "Nice to meet you!"

The man smiles "It's nice to meet you too. I'm Timoteo. I'm also known as Vongola Nono. Nono, is 9th in Italian." he says in introduction.

"Oy, old man. I heard Reborn was here" comes a loud voice from the other side of the door. "I wanted to fight him" the voice says as the door opens. In walks a slightly pudgy male with black hair swept across his face. Noticing the other occupant of the room, he sticks his head back out of the door. "Ne, Rico, Viper's here too if you wanted to practice." A new male walks into the room. This one is tall and lean with spiky brown hair.

"Oh, you're right Massimo" says this newcomer.

"I wouldn't have said it otherwise Enrico" says Massimo, rolling his eyes.

From far off, another new voice, this one sounding rather angry, can be heard. "Enrico, Massimo, you shouldn't barge in like that, even if it is Reborn. What if they had been discussing a mission or something private?"

The two men turn to look at this person outside. "Reborn would have shot me the moment I opened the door of course and I'd have backed off. I'm not that stupid Fredrico." Says Enrico

"Yeah, lighten up Freddie, we know all about what's going on in Vongola anyway, so I doubt that there is much to hide." Massimo huffs and crosses his arms.

Still, the man, Fredrico, grabs the other two by the collar and drags them out with a shout of "Sorry Father, Reborn, Viper"

Tsunayoshi didn't have a clue about those three men. No feelings from his gut came forth. They didn't look as nice as their father, and the first two seemed slightly scary. The third one, who he didn't have a chance to see, sounded nice though. However, he could feel the light hearted family bond between all four of them, even though Nono hadn't said anything.

"Sorry about them Tsunayoshi, they just like it when Reborn come over to… play." Apologises Nono. He had seen the child look scared and press himself closer to Viper. She in turn had moved her body to that the boys couldn't see him either. Reborn smirks at the comment. They hadn't defeated him once yet. Even when all three fought together, they hadn't even landed a touch on his clothes, let alone a scratch or a bruise.

"You should send Boss over there. He needs a good fight. Teach them some manors" grumbles Viper. "Tsunayoshi they were Nono's three sons, Enrico, Massimo and Fredrico. You should just ignore them, they are nothing like their father." She tells the boy. Slowly he relaxes in her arms, especially now that they were gone.

"Why don't you two sort them out while I talk to Tsunayoshi?" suggests Nono. Viper looks at the little boy in askance, and he nods. Both Tsunayoshi and Nono settle on a couch on the other side of the room whilst Reborn and Viper go stalk their prey. Both knew that Nono would protect they boy. Plus they wouldn't be gone that long.

"You are always welcome to come and stop by Little Tsunayoshi." Says Nono once they've left. Tsunayoshi looks up at him, tilting his head. "You're part of my family, so you can come and see me if there is anything you want to ask me about, or of you don't want to tell the others. I'm sure living with them can be hard at times"

"Family? Really?" asks Tsunayoshi. Nono smiles a warm smile at him and nods.

"Yes, Family. Viper and Reborn are your family too right" the little boy nods "I've known both of them for a very long time now. I consider them as family. We've helped each other out more times than I can remember." The man laughs a nostalgic laugh "I remember this one time when Reborn was 19…"

Tsunayoshi sits with the man as he tells tales of Reborn and Viper's recent pasts. Eventually there is a knock at the door and 6 other people walk in too. Tsunayoshi has a feeling that these men are okay too. He may not feel as close to them as he does for Timoteo, but he still feels like he can trust them. Timoteo introduces them as his 'Guardians' which Tsunayoshi doesn't quite get, but the old man explains that they are his friends, and that they are as close as family. It's not long before they are sharing even more stories.

"And that's when…" one man laughs. Everyone else is laughing too, already knowing the story.

"Skull shrieks like a girl at the Jack-in-the Box I got him for Christmas and falls backwards into the bowl of punch" finishes Reborn, walking into the room with a slight smile on his face. It's Reborn's satisfied look. Reborn is slightly surprised by the gathering, but knows that Tsunayoshi should have been fine. He'd done some growing up surrounded by these men and was pretty sure they were safe too.

"They should be good now. And don't worry, I made them pay for my services" says Viper nonchalantly. The older men in the room laugh once more at this, fully expecting nothing less from her.

They notice that they were gone longer than they planned. It seems time flies when you are having fun torturing people. Both look towards Nono.

"Did you talk for long enough?" asks Reborn, a stern and sharp look in his eyes.

Nono nods before looking at the child. "Yes I did. He's part of my family, so we had a lot of fun" Tsunayoshi nods from where he was playing with the Lightening Guardian.

"Did you confirm your suspicions?" Viper asks, just as sharp. Nono nods once again.

Nono's warm eyes turn sad, "Yes… I did."

* * *

><p>"Did you enjoy your day with the Old Man?" asks Skull, sitting Tsuna on his lap. The boy leans back almost falling asleep. But with determination, he stops his eyes drop dropping.<p>

"Yeah, I did. I played hide and seek around the mansion and no one could find me until they asked Reborn and Viper to. They thought I had gotten lost, but I hadn't even left the room. Reborn played along and sent them running aaaalllll over the mansion. It was really fun. I was the only one to find Viper though. No one else could." And he yawns once again. "Couldn't find… Reborn though. He kept on… moving… cheater" and he falls asleep.

"Rest well Tsunayoshi. Tomorrow is going to be fun" and he giggles to himself "… to the extreme." _I just hope that that crazy woman isn't there. She'll eat Tsunayoshi up. Knowing them, her and Luce would start a war over the little boy._

* * *

><p><strong>Many people guessed that this chapter was going to be about the Varia, and I can understand why you all thought so, since it's the only people Viper is related to directly. However, I did say a <strong>_**harder**_** hint this time. If I was hinting at the Varia it would have been even easier than Dino's hint. Viper is linked to the Ninth through association. Since I didn't want Reborn taking Tsunayoshi everywhere, I wanted to think of who the other Arcobaleno's would know. **

**I know this chapter is slightly longer than usual, but that's because I wanted to answer the question about Tsuna not being let out of the house before. And it's not that cute either, sorry. **

**This is quite an easy clue I think.  
><strong>

**I hoped that you enjoyed visiting the Vongola Mafia Family. See you all soon. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 17 April 2012.**


	16. Through the Generations

Chapter 16

Through the Generations.

"That woman wants to see cute! Well I'll show her cute. This is what she gets for…" Tsunayoshi couldn't hear the rest of Luce's growling since it got quiet and rather fast. So instead he focused on trying to climb into the outfit Luce was rather forcefully putting him into. The hairbrush attacked him next, making his hair fluffier and more unruly than before, before she stuffed something onto this head. Natsu was then stuffed into his arms and he holds onto the toy for dear life, hoping that Luce will wake up soon.

His request is answered, and Luce snaps out of her tirade when the outfit is complete. "Gya~ you're even cuter than last time." Spinning him around, he takes a look in the mirror to find out what she's dressed him up in today. Apparently, cute Easter bunny was today's theme of choice, somehow made even cuter by the appearance of the Lion stuffed toy. He had wired fluffy ears on a band on his head, one perfectly upright whilst the other one was flopping down slightly. When the others saw todays outfit, they didn't even want to ask where she had found the belt with a fluffy bunny pompom tail attached to it, and fervently hoped that she had brought it rather than making it herself.

"Boys" she says with her determined leader voice. Skull and Fon, as his escorts for today, stand infront of her, ready for whatever crazy orders she has for today. "You two are to make sure that that crazy woman doesn't hurt him, and you are to make sure that he returns home, in one piece. You are not allowed to let her kidnap him nor to keep him at VCubed (V3). He is not to be let out of your sight for a second! Understand?"

Both men nod, knowing the consequences of not following her orders. Plus, they wanted Tsunayoshi here to, not at someone else's house. They quickly grabbed the bunny's hand and took him out of the house before Luce herself could detain him.

"Who are we going to see today? Is it someone fun?" he asks as he walks down the path towards the gate.

Skull laughs to himself "Yes, they are fun Tsunayoshi. A little crazy at times, but certainly fun."

Fon looks down slightly worried. "If this" and he brings his hands up to show the marks in the air " 'crazy woman' does get a little too touchy, then just use that move I taught you and she should back off. It won't hurt her, but she'll get the message." Tsunayoshi looks up at him amazed, Fon had just said to- "There is nothing wrong with self-defence" Fon adds, seeing the look in the boy's eyes. Just who in the hell were they taking him to see?

Tsunayoshi wonders where they are going as they miss the gate next to Nono's house. Instead they stop at the next one. They get to the gate and Tsunayoshi takes a look at the emblem on the outside. It was a circle, with a ring of cloud looking things on the outside. Right in the centre was the word Vongola once again, which confused Tsunayoshi. Hadn't he just been to see the Vongola? Underneath the banner that had Vongola was a flur-de-lis. Above the banner was what appeared to be a crown, with some sort of emblem through the middle of it.

Skull politely knocked on the door and a maid opens it. Seeing who it is, she opens the door wider and bows them inside. Tsunayoshi looks around at the gardens in awe. It was certainly an… _interesting_ theme going on here. At first, it looked like a highly well maintained garden with geometric designs of flowers, borders and hedges. That is until you notice the craters in the ground, scrapes where the grass had been moved and flung about, and lots of tiny holes in the ground. Tsunayoshi recognises those holes in the ground: they are bullet holes.

All eyes turn to the house as the door is flung open and a screaming figure comes running out, soon followed by another one. They proceed to run around the garden.

"Come back here you arrogant brat!" the red head shouts, firing off a load of bullets at the other. "I'll teach you a lesson"

"Gyaa!" the green head screams "Someone save Ore-sama!" Spotting the potential shields, the green head runs over towards them and hides behind them. The red head stops when he notices just who he's hidden behind.

"Oh, it's you two." He says. He keep walking towards Fon as if he was about to give him a hug in greeting. Instead, he leans over Fon's shoulders and shoots the green haired one.

There is another scream, and the one in hiding scrabbles up and runs in a different direction, towards a man wearing strange clothes and a tall hat.

"Now Now, let's calm down. We have guests after all." He says, his Italian slightly accented.

Tsunayoshi just laughs at the family around him, sensing the bond they all have. He'd had a close up view of the red head's shot, and just like Reborn, he'd shot to barely miss, not actually harm. He tenses though, when he feels two fighting auras. And he's not the only one to feel it. Fon sighs, as if expecting it, before turning to Skull

"Skull, hold the little one." Skull proceeds to do so as Fon takes a few steps away. Tsunayoshi blinks in surprise as suddenly there is someone next to Fon, and Fon is holding a pair of handcuffs in his grip.

"Good morning to you too." Fon smiles. The other man just smirks, before preparing for the next attack.

"You should not extremely fight here, or I shall have to pray for our Guests' safety." Comes a very loud voice from the door way. Tsunayoshi turns from looking at the platinum blond to the door where there is a priest standing, hands raised to the heavens. Knowing that the priest will stop the fight, Skull puts Tsunayoshi back down, straightening out his clothes afterwards. As the priest runs over to stop the fight between the Fon and this other man, Tsunayoshi still feels the other mysterious aura. After concentrating for a moment, he realises that's it directly infront of him about 2 metres away.

But there is no one there.

"Um, who's there?" he asks, for he _knows_ that there is someone there.

"Tch, what are you talking about brat, there's no one there" growls the red head, looking at Tsunayoshi strangely. Tsunayoshi shakes his head, telling the man he's wrong.

Tsunayoshi blinks once more as suddenly there is a flash of orange and a man stands before them, hand on the air as if grabbing something. "Show yourself to our guests please" despite the please, the cool and confident tone left no room for argument. Tsunayoshi realises that the man must be an illusionist, like Viper is. The man who has just appeared has short dark blue hair and is wincing from the other man's tight grip on his ear.

But Tsunayoshi can't draw his eyes away from the other man. The one who, just moment's ago, had flames coming out of his forehead. He feels really strange as something in his body recognises this man and it feels as if his blood is reaching out for the man infront of him. He gets another one of those 'feelings' he's been having so often and immediately kneels infront of the blond. He doesn't know why, but he feels like he has to.

The chaos around him stops as everyone watches the bunny kneel before the blond. Said man gives the boy an analytical stare before smiling, ruffling the bunny's hair and picking the boy up.

"There is no need to bow before me little one." He says. "My name is Giotto, what's yours?" Tsunayoshi senses that he can trust this man, but still looks to Fon and Skull for permission. They both nod and smile at him, showing it's alright.

"My name is Tsunayoshi! It's nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too. How about we go in for morning tea and I'll introduce you to everyone." Giotto asks, smiling down at the boy. The bunny nods and cheers.

Everyone follows the pair into the house, through some corridors and into a dining hall. The table is already laid out since they were expecting the guests. Tsunayoshi has to wonder about the contents of the table though, even as he giggles at it. At one end, where there was a huge throne like chair, is lots and lots of cake and sweets. As they move further down the table the food gets more savoury.

Primo sits in the largest chair like Tsunayoshi suspected, with Fon and Skull sitting on his left. The teen with green hair was sitting near the sweets, practically drooling at the display before him. Everyone else finds seats too and starts to dig into the food.

"Okay, so he's Lampo, that one is Asari, he's Knuckles, and that's my best friend G. The silent one is Alaude and the final one is Daemon." Giotto points to each one in turn.

As Tsunayoshi sits on Giotto's lap, he watches all of the others have fun and talk with each other and guesses that they must have been around each other for a long time. There was this sense of familiarity just like at home. But looking at them all, something flashes through his head, but he's hesitant to ask the question. Giotto, of course, sense this, and asks the little bunny what was wrong. Tsunayoshi holds Natsu up as if the lion could save him in case the man got mad at him. "Don't worry, I know about your gift. I won't mind if the question is a little weird."

Slightly reassured by this, Tsunayoshi whispers "Shouldn't you all be dead?" Only the Arcobaleno and Giotto hear this since they were the only ones paying attention to the bunny. The Arcobaleno wonder how Tsunayoshi knows this though. They hadn't told Tsunayoshi about the First Generation of Vongola, nor about VCubed. As a result he shouldn't know that they should be dead.

Giotto though, laughs, not offended by the question at all. "Yes, we are dead" he says bluntly. Tsunayoshi stares at him with wide eyes. This man was definitely alive. "We're from the past actually. Did anyone tell you how V3 came to be about?" the child shakes his head, still trying to get over thoughts of time travel. "Well, I was actually the founder and first Boss of the Vongola Family. However, when I created the group, it was as a vigilante family, there to protect our town from criminals. Vongola didn't become like it is today until after I passed on the title of Boss." That would explain the word Vongola on the gate then. "When you met Nono did you see the ring he was wearing?" Tsunayoshi nods "Well, that's a special ring that actually has some of my spirit in it. Don't worry about that too much though. However, through the ring, I saw how much my Vongola had changed. It had become one of the people I was trying to fight against. Even though Nono wanted to, he couldn't change it. He had tried, and Vongola is a lot less violent than it used to be, but it still wasn't working. I really wanted to do something to help. And after talking, we found a solution. So your friend Verde, my friend Talbot, and the Bovino Family worked together with the Vongola Guardians to bring us here to the future. We've created the group V3. It stands for Vongola Version Vigilante. We do a lot of peace work, like trying to stop mafia wars, stop fights between rival families, and protect who we can from criminals and the effects of the Underworld. Nono does what he can from the Underworld and I do what I can from the normal world. Hopefully we can meet somewhere in the middle."

Tsunayoshi take a little while to process all of that, but decides to take it at face value. Giotto had come from the past to make the future better.

"B-B-but, Tsunayoshi" stammers Skull "How did you know they should have been dead?"

"Well, Nono did confirm that Tsunayoshi has the Vongola Hyper Intuition, so that must have told him." Says Fon, remembering the conversation they had had with Reborn and Viper once the boy had fallen asleep.

Giotto frowns and shakes his head. "No, that's not possible. The Vongola hyper intuition doesn't appear this strong until one wears the Vongola sky ring or half ring, and one needs to have good control of their flame too. Tsunayoshi's done neither."

"So what's the cause then? He's had it ever since we first had him." Both Arcobaleno are rather worried about their one and only child, and can't help but wonder what's happened to him to cause this ability.

Giotto's frown deepens as Tsunayoshi looks up at him with deep brown eyes. He understood that they were talking about him, but there were too many big words for him to understand. "I really don't know, but I can't help but feel like I've caused it somehow"

They have no time to elaborate on that though, since the dining room doors bang open and a woman runs in and over to Giotto.

"Why didn't you tell me he had arrived? I've been waiting forever to see the adorable child I've been hearing about." Finally spotting her target she squeals and picks him up from Giotto's lap. "When Luce said you were cute I didn't think she was telling the truth." Tsunayoshi looks at this woman, who reminds him greatly of Luce, and smiles at her. "Oh look at this" she coos, before grabbing a napkin from the table and wiping Tsunayoshi's face with it. He has icing all over his face from the cake he was eating. "I am so envious, she gets to look at this face all day." She hugs the boy to her chest, before spinning on her heels and running out the door. "Me and the cutie are going to play alright!"

"Nufufu, Elena, what about me?" asks Daemon, looking up from his glass of wine.

Elena turns around for a moment. "You're handsome. He's cute. There's a difference. A woman needs both in her life." She says before disappearing.

"Haha, I bet you regret bringing her with you from the past now, don't you Daemon" scoffs G, waving and pointing a breadstick.

Skull and Fon both quickly stand up, sweat running down their brows. Giotto looks at them and laughs "Don't worry about her, you know she won't hurt him."

"We know. It's Luce we're worried about. Her orders were to not let him out of our sight and I'm more afraid of the consequences than what Elena would do to Tsunayoshi." Says Skull before running out of the room and after his charge. Fon politely bows to the Vongola Family before following Skull out.

Meanwhile Tsunayoshi has ended up with the 'crazy woman' who he now knows is called Elena, and they are currently sat on her bed whilst she fiddles with the little bunny ears he has on. "Oh, I know what you need. Wait right here. I'll be back soon" she says excitedly, before running out of the room and down the corridor.

Tsunayoshi, being the inquisitive boy he is, decides to take a look around the room. He climbs off the bed and over to the dresser, clambering up onto the seat. On the dresser there's lots of little bottles and a lot of different colours. It kind of looks like the paint Colonnello uses. Looking to the left, he finds a big puffy pink thing. So he picks it up and gives it a shake. Powder falls all around him making him sneeze. He remembers where he's seen one of these before- Luce's room. She put it against her face. So holding the fluff in both hands, he lightly slams it against his face, keeping his eyes shut against the dust. He does so a few more times until he sneezes once more. Not liking the fact that he keeps on sneezing, he throws the puffy thing over his shoulder, and move on to the other different coloured 'paint'.

When Skull and Fon finally find him, Tsuna is a bright rainbow of colours. Once he sees them he beckons them over, before waving the purple eye-shadow in the air. "Look, I could hide in a flower bed now. Colonnello would be pleased, as would Lal!" He pulls on Skull's hand until the man kneels down too, and sets to work on him too. Skull tries to stop him, but Tsunayoshi is determined to go on.

Shade by shade, Tsunayoshi paints Skull every shade of purple he can find. "Ahh, I've run out." He pouts.

That's when Elena walks back in, a bunch of flowers in her hand. It was her intention to add to the Easter theme and pin one of the flowers to his jacket. Seeing the mess the boy's made, she laughs. "Silly, you're not supposed to put it all over like that. What were you trying to do?" she digs around in a drawer for some make-up wipes, handing a couple to Skull before starting on the boy. Instead he bats her hands away. "No, it's for Lal. This is so I can hide in the flower garden and surprise her!" Elena can't say no to that determined look in his eyes.

"Alright then. The others wanted to know if you wanted to play in the garden with them." Elena informs as she starts to tidy up the mess he'd made.

Tsunayoshi gives a whoop of agreement before running out the door and somehow managing to find the back door to the garden. When he gets there, he finds that G is shouting at Lampo once more, the little lord looking rather scared with tears in his eyes. He runs over and stands infront of Lampo, hands on his hips. "Stop shouting at him" he shouts. G initially stops due to the colour of Tsunayoshi's face, but then remembers what Lampo had done this time.

"Tch, brat, get out of the way, I need to shoot some sense into him" growls G, using his gun to motion moving aside. Tsunayoshi stands there, glaring at G, until the man has enough and goes to lean over Tsunayoshi. However, the bunny reaches his hand up, stands on tip toes to reach, and pushes G's arm. The man's hand goes numb and he drops the gun. "W-what did you do?"

"I taught him that for self-defence. I didn't expect him to use it to save someone though." Says Fon as they catch up.

Tsunayoshi turns to Lampo and sees the huge bump the teen already has. Leaning over, he rubs the bump trying to make it feel better "Are you alright now?" he asks Lampo, tilting his head and smiling.

Lampo gulps back the tears and nods, before raising his eyebrows at Tsunayoshi's appearance. "Um, what about you? What's the make-up for?"

Tsunayoshi beams and claps, jumping at the same time. "Oh, so I can do this." They are in the perfect place, with flowers on three sides. Going to one end, he gets on his knees and crawls into the flower bed. The others track his progress, but only because they can see the moving fluffy bunny tail through the flowers. When the bunny tail stops moving, they keep their eyes there, assuming Tsunayoshi has stopped moving. Yet moments later, Alaude throws his handcuffs behind him.

"Heeii!" comes the squeak. "Ow, ow. Let me go" he whines, standing up, one hand caught in the cuffs. The rest of the family look from his position to the bunny tail.

"That was extreme!" shouts Knuckles, punching the air.

"Haa, haa, but your tail came off." Laughs Asari going over to pick it up.

"WHAT?" comes the scream and everyone turns to find Elena almost in tears. She runs over, snatches the tail from Asari, before kneeling infront of the boy. After glaring at Alaude, he removes the handcuff. She swings the little boy around so she can try and figure out how to re-attach the tail.

"Nuh-uh" Tsunayoshi says shaking his head. Instead he runs off. He doesn't really want her to put the tail back in place. He'd rather that Luce does.

"Oy, get him!" Elena shouts.

Tsunayoshi spins, skipping backwards and sticks his tongue out "Haahaa, Can't catch me!" and goes to hide behind a tree.

"Daemon, Please~" Elena begs. Daemon sighs, before turning and walking towards the trees. The things he does for this woman…

When Daemon gets behind the tree, he can't find the kid, instead hearing a rustle from above. The man materialises his scythe and cuts a few of the branches away.

"Heeii" Tsunayoshi screams, sticking his head out of the foliage.

"Tsunayoshi, jump down" shouts Skull, holding his hands out. Trusting Skull completely, Tsunayoshi crawls to the edge of the branch, but slips, Skull catching him anyway. He jumps out of Skull's arms in time to avoid a swipe of the scythe and runs across the laws. "Hee, try again" he giggles

"I'll do it to the extreme!" shouts Knuckles, running towards the boy.

"Looks like fun, I'll join in too" smiles Asari.

Tsunayoshi manages to dodge their grabs, using his small size to his advantage. At one point, he clambers onto Knuckle's back. The priest continues to run around, pretending he can't find the boy anywhere. After tiring of the 'horsie ride' he jumps off.

He keeps on dodging any grabs for him until a voice makes him freeze.

"Tsunayoshi!"

Elena uses the chance to grab the boy and pick him up. "Tsunayoshi, stay here with me~" she pleads, hugging him tightly. As much as he likes the rest of the family, this woman is a little too touchy. He just wants to go back home. He manages to wriggle out of her arms and jump onto the lawn, running over to the owner of the voice. As Elena makes another grab, a bullet stops her. Everyone but Giotto reacts, drawing weapons out.

Tsunayoshi stops and glares up at a tree. "Colonnello, that wasn't very nice!" he pouts.

"Tsunayoshi!" shouts the owner of the voice again, coming closer. When they finally do reach him they gasp at the state he is in. "You've got mud on your knees, make-up all over your face and your tail has fallen off. Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" It was Luce, and she wasn't very happy.

"But I did it for Lal! I want to show her my new hiding place. I want her to be proud of me!" he says, tears in his eyes. He was only trying to make her smile at him.

"Speaking of, she'll be here soon take a look, so why not hide. We'll see who does better alright?" shouts Colonnello from his hiding place in the tree.

"Yay. I'm gonna beat you Colonnello!" Tsunayoshi shouts, running for the flowers once more.

The First Generation watch this with a smile on their faces, still not too sure what to make of it all. They had never seen the Arcobaleno act like this before. And to be honest, it was nice to see them act more like normal people. They put their weapons away, now knowing who had fired the shot.

A minute later they see Lal walking down the garden path, holding two knives in her hands.

"For heaven's sake Colonnello, a five year old who had decided to finger paint on themselves could have done a better job than you!" Lal shouts, army voice harsh. Bringing her arm back she lets one of the knives fly into the bed of flowers. Colonnello catches the knife aimed for his head.

"Damn it Lal. You nearly had my eye out, kora. I'd never be able to watch your eyes sparkle with fire when you shout at me anymore." He flirts as he stands back up. He was going to throw the knife back to her, but she'd just use it as ammo again.

"You idiotic student. If you have time to flirt with me then you have time to do a better job." She shouts back, a tiny blush on her cheeks.

Tsunayoshi giggles at the usual exchange, before clamping his hands over his mouth.

"And You! You should know better than to laugh when you are in hiding. You gave yourself away" she shouts, directing it at Tsunayoshi. Just like he expected, a knife came flying his way too. The members of VCubed gasp, all moving to stop the knife, but are too far away. They can't believe that she'd throw a knife at him. Giotto notices that none of the Arcobaleno present, not even Luce, are worried.

Tsunayoshi however, catches the knife. Standing back up, he brushes off the dirt from his knees. "Geeze Lal. Would you stop throwing these at me? If you blinded me then I wouldn't be able to see you smile. And I love your smile."

"I'm training you to handle that brat. At least you did better than my stupid student here" Lal says, ignoring the comment about her smile.

"Come on Tsunayoshi. It's time to go home." Says Luce, holding out a hand for him to take.

"Noo~ you can't take him home. He's going to stay here!" shouts Elena, making another grab for him. Luce gives a glare that is as cold as ice and even slightly scares Alaude and Daemon. She picks the boy up and protectively holds him to her chest.

"Yes, he should stay here" adds in Lampo, wanting his only saviour to stay behind. Someone needed to protect him from G's wrath.

"Now now, Lampo, he can't stay here, he needs to go home. But he can certainly visit again" calms Asari, patting Lampo on the shoulder.

"It would be a sin to keep him here against his will" adds in Knuckle.

"Hmm, it's too noisy when he's here" adds in Alaude, even though he was fascinated by the child. His escaping abilities, combined with the catching of the knife earlier, along with his young age made the little bunny quite interesting.

"You had best come and see Elena again or I'll give you a nightmare" threatens Daemon, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"Oy Melon head, don't threaten children!" shouts G, smacking the illusionist on the head. The two of course get into an argument, a gun and a scythe reappearing in seconds.

Giotto sighs at them before walking over and handing the forgotten tail over to Luce. He then ruffles Tsunayoshi's hair before handing Natsu back to him. "You had left him behind to eat all of the cake" Giotto informs.

He walks them all back to the gate, leaving his Guardians to sort the feud out.

"Thank you for having us over" chirps Tsunayoshi as the gate opens, hugging Natsu tighter to his chest.

"It was a pleasure. Make sure to come over again, especially if you need to talk about that gift you have. I've got it too you see" Tsunayoshi nods. All 5 Arcobaleno walk out of the gate.

Tsunayoshi takes a look to the left and down the rest of Mafia Row before looking to his right back towards home. His eyes are once more drawn to the left. _Something is still missing... and it's over there._

Just as the gates are about to close, Giotto makes one more comment. "Tsunayoshi don't worry. You'll find what's missing soon. Just remember to be brave, and to be like the Sky- accepting everything." And the gates bang shut.

"Tsunayoshi are you coming?" calls Fon from where the others are, further down the street. He nods and runs to catch up to them, only looking backwards down the street once.

* * *

><p>"So did you like meeting the result of my work?" asks Verde after dinner.<p>

Tsunayoshi thinks back to meeting Giotto and his Guardians. Yet two picture overlap in his head. One is definitely those who he met today, yet he's sure that he's met other people who are just like them. Shaking the feeling off, he begins to tell the others about his day.

"Oy, brat. You need to be in top shape tomorrow, alright" barks Lal as she leaves to go upstairs

"Why would I need to do that?" Tsunayoshi asks "Are we going for a run? Or to train some more of your students?"

"No Tsunayoshi. We're going to meet some people who aren't afraid to attack you, even if we are there."

"I'd come and kick their backside into next year but I have a mission" says Reborn.

"Oh." Says Tsunayoshi, thoughtful. "Well, they can't be as bad as you, so I'll be fine" he smiles before ducking under the table to dodge the shot Reborn takes at him, laughing all the while.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm, a lot of insinuations in this chapter, but all will be revealed. I promise. Of course, it's all because Giotto was in this chapter. And it's a bit longer than usual too, but that's because I wanted to include the Guardians and some fun more. Otherwise it would have been more about how they arrived in this time than actually playing with them. <strong>

**If you are wondering what the symbol on their gate looks like, type Vongola Symbol into google images and you'll find it. It's the one that appears under the blue dome on Tsuna's gloves and is also engraved into the latest version of the Vongola rings, so if anyone has one of those then you can see it.  
><strong>

**And I think you can guess who we are going to see next time! **

**Wasn't the last manga chapter interesting! I can't wait to learn more about the Vindiche, I need it for some of my stories. Maybe they are zombies and are being kept alive through the pacifiers they had on and Bermuda's power? That's just my guess though.  
><strong>

**BWT I'll be starting a different Reborn story soon. It won't take precedence over this one, and it'll be updated irregularly, because I already have this and Thief. I've just had the idea buzzing all this week. However, it's main character is the person you least expect it to be. I bet none of you can guess. And as far as I know, the story is unique too- at least I sure hope so. So keep a look out for it alright!**

**And I want to thank you all for reviewing so much. It really makes me happy. **

**Lots of love and cookies**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 20 April 2012**


	17. And Assassins keep on killing

Chapter 17

And Assassins keep on killing

**Whoopsie guys lost track of time there. I really need to put a reminder up somewhere. And don't you love it when teachers give you assignments right at the end of the year? Yay, lucky me! But enough of me and excuses, this Phantom is going to leave in a cloud of smoke before rabid fans attack, leaving one shiny jewel of a chapter and one cute Tsunayoshi in my place to placate said fans.**

**Enjoy**

_*poof*_

_**Little note: ages for them are the following: X14, S12, Lus15, Lev13 B6.(I'd just die imagining a chibi Bel)**_

_**To A Random Human: This is Reborn, anyone can pop up anywhere and anytime. If Lal's students think they have it bad, then they don't want to be Tsunayoshi. Thanks for the input.  
><strong>_

* * *

><p>When Tsuna woke up the next morning, sleeping next to Skull, he found a note on the bedside table. It was addressed to him. He opened it up, but couldn't understand anything since he hasn't learnt to read yet. Verde hadn't had enough time to teach him. Deciding not to wake Skull, he slipped out of bed and walked downstairs, dragging Natsu after him. Like he suspected Lal was already awake, her gun and rifle disassembled on the table top as she cleaned the parts.<p>

"Lal, could you read this for me please?" he asks waving the piece of paper at her. She takes the piece of paper, reads it before snorting slightly.

"Ha, It's from Reborn. It says: Don't show fear. Good advice considering who we are going to see." She turns to the little boy, eyes sharp. Tsunayoshi decides it's best to pay attention. "You cannot show these people any form of weakness. If they scare you, don't show it. Don't be afraid to defend yourself either. Anything Fon, Colonnello, Reborn or I have taught you can and should be used against these guys. Not that we're going to let them lay a hand on you, but you should know just in case."

Tsunayoshi remembers that as he stands outside the gate. Viper unlocks the gate herself before turning around to face him. "Welcome to Varia Headquarters" This house was between the houses of the Vongola and the V3. Tsunayoshi suspected that they were the only ones willing to have the Varia as neighbors if they were as scary as the stories say.

As soon as the gates open he can tell it's not a fun and happy place. There is a dangerous and creepy aura cast over the whole house. Lal follows directly behinds Tsunayoshi, Viper smiling at the pair. Through whatever instinct Tsunayoshi had, he was walking around all of the traps placed in the garden. These traps kept a lot of worthless people out of the house and stopped them from annoying the residents. If they even dared to enter that is.

As they enter the main hall, Viper isn't surprised to find on one waiting for them. Viper stops Lal from following the little boy though. "You know they hate it when crowds arrive. He'll be a lot safer alone."

"What on earth are you saying?" hisses Lal back to Viper. Did she want the child to end up dead?

Viper shakes her head "I'm not that stupid, we'll be following, but I'll hide our presence, that means no talking until I tell you too alright." Lal huffs but agrees anyway, Viper worked with these people so she would know best.

Looking backwards Tsunayoshi couldn't see Viper or Lal but he just knew they were there. So happy with that knowledge, he tiptoes around the house. It was really quiet and he hadn't seen anyone yet. Until he turns a corner. Immediately he is met with a rather mad looking grin and blond hair.

"Heeii" is his first reaction, jumping back a step before taking a look at the person before him. Reborn had said not to show fear, so he wouldn't. "Wow! So pretty!" he shouts, pointing at the tiara on the blond's head.

"Ushishishi~" the boy laughs. He didn't seem that much older than Tsunayoshi "You like the Prince's crown?" he asks, smile widening. Tsunayoshi nods his head.

"Yeah, I do. Oh, you're a prince?" he says tilting his head. He realises what that means and quickly bows before the boy. "Nice to meet you!"

If possible the boy's grin widens even more. He flicks a knife into his hand and places it under Tsunayoshi's chin, using it to tilt the boy's face back up.

What the boy doesn't know is that there is a sniper rifle aimed at him from the side, ready to shoot at the slightest sign of attacking the precious boy. Viper has told Lal that this was just what the blond was like, but even so, Viper was crouched directly behind Tsunayoshi, arms either side of him, almost like a hug but without touching. She was ready to pull the boy back and to make him disappear if the blond showed any signs of his usual madness.

Tsunayoshi does as prompted and looks back up at the Prince. He takes a good look at the boy. A small part inside of him is shivering, telling him to run from here and this house, shouting at him that it's not safe here. Personally, he doesn't think the boy infront of him is that bad, just different, like everyone at home. He didn't sense any ill intent, just curiosity and pride. His eyes are drawn back to the shining tiara and without realising it he whispers "So cool" under his breath. The Prince hears this and removes the knife, laughing loudly like any child would.

"Ushishishi~ Shishishi, Ushishishi~. The Prince likes the Kitty." The Prince declares ruffling Tsunayoshi's hair. He had chosen Kitty on purpose. The boy infront of him looked cute, but he could sense the claws underneath. The boy hadn't flinched once at the sight or touch of the knife, wasn't scared of his laugh and smile and had tensed, ready to attack back if he needed to. And those eyes. They were piercing and steady, yet soft and kind too. It had been a very long time since the Prince had seen eyes like that. And if he was living with the Arcobaleno then he was going to be like a cat in nature too; never being caught or told what to do, coming and going as he pleased.

"What is the Kitty's name?" The Prince asks. Tsunayoshi looks over his shoulder, asking permission from the direction he assumed Viper was in. He could sense her behind and around him. He felt a hug in return and nodded. The Prince watched this with interest before laughing once more "Ushishi. Mammon must be here!" He was a genius after all, and if the Kitty was looking at things that weren't there then it must be an illusionist. The only illusionist who would be with him was Mammon.

She undoes the illusion on herself, still keeping Lal hidden. "I'm playing hide and seek with the rest of the team alright." She says, bringing her hand across Tsunayoshi's body to reach her head which was just above the boy's shoulder, putting a finger to her lips. The Prince was quite surprised by the position, never having seen her get close to anyone before. Not minding the fact at all, he rushes over and pulls on her cheeks. "Mammon's come to play with the Prince!"

The Prince let's go and skips away. "The Prince shall join the game" meaning he'll be quiet about her presence.

"Good boy. Tsunayoshi this is Belphegor. Belphegor this is Tsunayoshi." Viper introduces.

"Why's he calling you Mammon?" Tsunayoshi asks, tilting his head to the side to look at her. Her name was Viper not Mammon, so why was Belphegor calling her that?

"It's my name for when I'm working. I don't let anyone else call me by my true name apart from you." She whispers. Tsunayoshi feels touched at that and hugs her tightly back.

"Mou~ Bel-chan. Where are you~?" comes another voice from down the corridor. Smiling at the two boys, since they wouldn't see her wink, Viper disappears into the mist once more. "Ah, there you are Bel-chan, I was getting worried." A boy in his mid-teens prances over, stopping as soon as he spots Tsunayoshi. "Oh my Heavens, he's so cute!" the teen shouts before leaping over to them and picking the boy up in a bone-crushing hug.

"Ushishishi, The Kitty is the Prince's new subject. Birdy get off of the Prince's property" Belphegor claims, twirling a knife. The teen however doesn't seem to listen. "Ka-ching~" he growls before throwing a knife at the 'birdy's' leg. The teen jumps back, letting go of Tsunayoshi.

Tsunayoshi watches as the feathers on the teens clothes settle back into place, just like the bird Belphegor claims him to be. "Where did you find him Bel-chan?" The Birdy asks.

"He walked in here" says Bel truthfully. He'd watched. The boy had gone around all of the traps as if he had a map. It had interested the Prince greatly.

The teen looks him over, hand on his chin in thought. "Oh~ You're the Arcobaleno's child right. Boss really wants to meet you! Come on, let Lussuria show you the way. " he grabs Tsunayoshi's wrist and proceeds to drag him through the Varia mansion. Tsunayoshi didn't mind, once again sensing no ill intent from this teen either. His gut told him to beware of the teens left knee-cap, and not to get into hand to hand combat with the teen. Well, he wasn't planning on fighting them anyway.

Lal just stares and blinks at the boy being lead off "What is he? A walking peace maker? Am I missing something, like a perfume or pheromones that allow this brat to turn even the scariest people into kittens? He's just been through a conversation with two of the Varia and not even gotten a scratch."

Viper laughs "I really don't have a clue. But I would pay anything not to have him any other way. We'd better hurry, nothing will save him from Boss if he's in a bad mood"

Viper really did work for the Varia under the name of Mammon. Why? Because even though they may be a load of youngsters, the Varia still pay the highest rates out of all the Families. She'd follow the money. Xanxus was certainly paying her enough, so if he wanted to be called Boss, she'd call him that. If he wanted to be known as King of the World, well, the money said he was. And they weren't that bad to work with either.

"Bossu~" shouts Lussuria as he comes to the open door.

"VROOOIII! Stupid Boss, what are you doing now?" comes a shout from inside the room. A wine bottle quickly makes it's exit and slams against the opposite wall. Tsunayoshi doesn't like that. Luce said it was important not to throwing things, especially food and drink since it was a waste.

So storming over, Tsunayoshi stands in the open doorway, fists on hips, a scowl on his face. "Stop that. It's naughty!" he shouts. There is a stunned silence from the Varia.

"Vrrroi?" A teen with long hair says, quietly and threateningly. "It's naughty? You do you think you are?" he shouts as he runs towards Tsunayoshi. The little boy ducks before running further into the room. Swords weren't his best area of expertise since no one at home used one. It was only basic instinct trained by the others at home that had saved him from that attack. The long haired boy seems to get even angrier and takes another swing. "Get back here brat!"

There is a deep rumbling laugh from the other side of the room and Tsunayoshi just has enough time to notice a fox tail and glowing red eyes before he has to jump back from another sword strike "Bwahaha. Come on Sword Trash, being beaten by a brat. How pathetic"

The swordsman stops his attack to wave his sword at the other man "Vrooii. Shut up Boss. I will strike the intruding weakling down." He turns in his heels to face Tsunayoshi once more, pointing his sword directly at Tsunayoshi's heart. "I will definitely cut you down, for I am Squalo, Superbi Squalo, Sword Emperor"

"Ushishishi~ Not yet you're not, stupid Shark" reminds Belphegor, leaning against the doorway. He wasn't going to stop the fight, he wanted to see the Kitty's claws.

Roaring out loud, Squalo charges. Yet Tsunayoshi can see that his anger has affected the swordsman and the swing will go wide. He ducks under the sword, letting it slide above his head into the empty air before pushing a pressure point on the teen's arm. The sword clatters to the floor.

"Bwahahaha. Defeated by mere trash! Get out of my sight sword scum" orders the man called Boss. Now that Tsunayoshi's not being attacked, he takes his time to look around the room. He sees the Boss sitting behind a desk, his feet on said desk. Next to him there is another teen, waving a fan to cool his boss down from the heat.

"I'll get rid of him Boss" says the other man, who seems to be carrying 4 umbrella's on his back. Vaulting over the desk, the teen stalks up to Tsunayoshi before grabbing the umbrellas. "Levi Volta" The light bulbs in the room crash as the electricity flows from them into the umbrellas. The room goes dark since the curtains aren't drawn, and the glittering sparks of electricity provide the odd flashes of light. When Tsunayoshi realises that he's surrounded by the umbrellas his instinct cowers down. He's not sure if there's a way out of this attack.

He sighs in relief when the umbrellas are shot down before they can release their electric charge. He smiles, thanking Lal without words. A gun becomes visible and he catches it. It's one of Lal's, but he knows that she wouldn't give him a loaded one. This is plan Alpha; to pretend he's stronger than he looks to scare the enemy into submission, quite Lal like in his opinion. So he aims the gun at Xanxus.

The curtains are drawn to let light back into the room and the Varia freeze at what they see. The Boss however, laughs out loud. "Bwahaha, that's some damn good Trash. You've got balls. Who are you?"

"Ushishishi~ That's the Prince's Kitty." The others roll their eyes since that doesn't answer anything except to say Belphegor approves of him.

"This cutie is the child who's been taken in by the Arcobaleno Bossu~" explains Lussuria. The three other Varia members take a look back towards the child, so many things clicking into place now.

"Really." Says the Boss in acceptance. He turns his blood red eyes back to Tsunayoshi and they stare at each other. A shiver of fear runs straight through the boy, his instincts telling him to run as far as he can now. He gets a feeling that he couldn't win against this man, that he'd even lost before. The Boss smiles at the boy, finally sitting up properly in his throne. "Well brat. You gonna shoot?"

Tsunayoshi puts a playful smile on his face, before saying "Bang!" What neither was expecting was the bullet that shot towards the Boss. Both Tsunayoshi and the Boss knew he hadn't pulled the trigger. The answer is given when the bullet passes harmlessly through the Boss. It was an illusion.

"Trash" the Boss growls "Show yourself"

"Got you there Xanxus" says Viper materialising whilst sitting next to where Tsunayoshi was standing.

Belphegor runs over and pulls on her cheeks again "Mammon won the game!" he decides

"You touch him and we'll show you what real pain is" whispers a harsh voice in Xanxus' ear. He bristles, going to reach for his X-guns, but stops when a gun is placed against his temple. He growls once more, this time in defeat. Even he wouldn't go against all of the Arcobaleno. None of them could even touch Viper, although that was generally because of her damn illusions.

"Stop it. Bad Lal!" says Tsunayoshi stomping his foot, hands once again on hips. Xanxus burst out laughing once again. He was going to like this brat. He was fearless, and Xanxus liked that. If the Arcobaleno didn't want him then they surely would. Who else would tell one of the Arcobaleno off as if they were a naughty puppy?

"Oy, Brat, come here" he orders. Tsunayoshi walks over to stand next to Xanxus, the opposite side to Lal. "If that lot ever give you a hard time, come and get us; We'll sort them out for you." The rest of the Varia cheer in agreement.

Three bullets then flew through the window to land in Xanxus's desk. One was from an Ex-Mafia-Boss's gun. Another was from a Hitman's gun. The final one was from a Sniper's rifle. "Che, stuck up scum."

"I think it's time to go home" Says Viper- if the three bullets are anything to go by. Belphegor pouts, pulling on her cheeks one last time before running over to Tsunayoshi.

"Bye~Bi~" he sings, petting his Kitty.

"Mou~ Cutie's going home already?" frowns Lussuria before gliding over and hugging the life out of the boy once more. Levi silently comes over and ruffles Tsunayoshi's hair too.

Squalo attempts to take another swipe at the boy before a wine glass crashes into his head. "Vrooii! What was that for stupid Boss?"

Tsunayoshi uses that chance to go to Viper and holds her hand as she guides him to the door.

"Bye bye little bro!" shouts Lussuria as they leave.

The Varia didn't know where the feeling had come from, but they knew that they'd protect the brat. The Varia had laid their claim and nothing was going to take him from them.

That brat was Varia Quality, he just didn't know it yet.

* * *

><p>As Tsunayoshi and his two guards exit the Varia Mansion and walk back towards their own house, they don't realises that two figures are high in the trees watching them.<p>

One is a small child, not a lot older than the boy they are watching, with white hair and a tattoo under his eye, munching way on some sweets.

The boy looks to his companion. He had left his house when he had felt a disturbance. Homing in on the source of the disturbance found him this man. This man was like a cross between the boy they were watching and Vongola Primo.

"So Chibi even survived the Varia. It's better that the meeting was done under conditions like these. This should definitely help."

"Help? Help with what?" asks the boy, looking up at the man. The man just smiles a bright smile "I can't tell you that Byakuran, you know how things like that are."

"I thought that rule only belonged to the Clam?" the boys asks, confused.

The man shakes his head. "No, the Clam are the only ones allowed to break that rule. It's all for the better, you'll see"

Byakuran has no choice but to nod his head and watch as the Arcobaleno gates close on another outing.

* * *

><p><strong>Cookie to anyone who gets the song I put in here! It's only like 2 lines but still. <strong>

**It was funny over the weekend, I walked into a clothing shop and they had like 6 different T-shirts with Pineapples on them for the summer. I had a little fangirl fit in the middle of the shop that consisted of something along the lines of "Oh my god LOOK!" followed by some running and squealing. A few people gave me weird looks but it was worth it. **

**It was hard to do some of the Varia *coughSqualocough* without swearing. But I'm not going to in this story. I had to stop putting swear words in G's sentences last time too, and a few others.  
><strong>

**Right. Next update will put everything back on the time track, so it'll be this Thursday. **

**I hoped you loved my Pet Varia!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 24 April 2012  
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	18. With Experimental Powers

Chapter 18

With Experimental Powers

**Important note guys.** A plot bunny attacked me in the middle of the night- also known as 3AM- whilst I was thinking about what to do for the next chapter. However, I realised that the Family that _should_ have been in this chapter is actually suited better in a different place. So I've moved them and now we have the next Family instead. I've edited last chapter to remove the hint since it doesn't apply anymore. Once again, sorry guys.

* * *

><p>"I need to take this one!" demands Tsunayoshi.<p>

"Are you sure? You're not going to take Natsu with you?" asks Luce, reaching up for the object anyway.

"It has to be this one!" He was going to take it if it meant he had to hide it under his t-shirt.

"Alright, just don't lose it okay." Warns Luce. Tsunayoshi was good at losing things. He'd put it down, become interested in something else and not pick it back up.

Ever since Tsunayoshi had heard which Family they were going to visit today, he had the urge to take this object with him. He didn't know why, it was just another one of those unexplainable feelings he kept getting.

* * *

><p>Not 20 minutes later Tsunayoshi was running down the corridors of this new Family's mansion, screaming and crying his eyes out.<p>

_Why'd they bring me here? It's scary! _He thinks as he blindly keeps on running.

Everything was fine at first. It didn't look too different from anyone else's house. But then that really scary guy in orange overalls and a black gas mask had appeared and scared the living daylights out of him. Tsunayoshi screamed, turned and ran in some random direction. At one point he had fallen down some stairs and now ended up in a frighting environment with white tiles and metal doors and what he swore was blood on the floor.

He turns the corner and bumps into someone's legs. He looks up to apologise since it's polite to, only to be met by a white suited individual with a white mask, blue paper hat and blue rubber gloves on. Their eyes were hidden behind goggles. Tsunayoshi backs away in fear before screaming once more and running in a different direction.

Just as he's about to turn into a different corridor, a blood curdling scream resounds. He's definitely not going that way. Skidding to a halt, he changes direction once more. As he runs past one door, he hears a laugh. It's a very individual laugh and one that gets a reaction from the boy. He knows that laugh even though he's never heard it before. Something tells him that that room is safe. So he does the natural thing and enters it. That room was safer than the rest of the building and he didn't want to be scared any longer. At this point in time, he wanted nothing more than to be in Viper's arms, safely hidden under her cloak. Or maybe in Reborn's, with a Gun Leon protecting him too. He'd even willingly take a training day with Lal if it meant being away from this place.

He slams the door shut behind him before leaning back against it, sliding down onto the floor, bringing his knees up and crying into them.

The residents of the room are slightly shocked at the sudden entrance of the crying boy. The fact that he was crying wasn't shocking. Lots of children cried in this place. It was the fact that the boy had normal clothes on, clothes that looked brand new and weren't dirty or ripped. It was the fact that there was no slave collar around his neck. It was the fact that this facility on Mafia Row was only for top priority or highly dangerous experiments, and this boy didn't have a mark on him.

This boy was an outsider. He was free.

"Oya Oya~ What do we have here then?" The voice is deep and soothing yet playful at the same time.

"Oi, don't cry Byon" says a different voice, bouncy yet concerned.

Tsunayoshi looks up to find 4 jail cells with 4 different people in them. These people are bandaged, plasters dotting their skin. They look ragged and underfed. Tsunayoshi can't help but feel sorry for them. He sniffs and moves closer to the cages. "This place is really scary!" he admits, wiping the tears away with the cuff of his sleeve.

"Kufufufu~ Of course it is. A place like this won't be sugar and rainbows. The place certainly fits its name though" smiles one boy. It's that laugh again, the one he recognises but hasn't heard before. He looks at the boy who laughed and recognition flickers across his memory. The boy has short blue hair and a bandage covering one eye.

"Estraneo" Tsunayoshi whispers. That was the name of this Family.

"Why here?" that voice belonged to a girl and was barely above a whisper. He walks to the cell on the right of the first boy and finds the girl hugging herself tightly. Her purple hair hung long and ratty down her back, yet her amethyst eyes still sparkled with some hidden hope. She was even younger than Tsunayoshi himself.

"Verde and Vip- erh Mammon brought me here" he admits. He still doesn't even know why they brought him here. Although he suspects that he wasn't supposed to get scared and run into this part of the house.

"They are the only nice ones" comes a monotone voice. Tsunayoshi has to go to the total opposite end to see this boy. All of his hair is covered in white bandages and he has a barcode branded into his cheek.

"Hmm, you've met them before?" Tsunayoshi asks, tilting his head.

"Yeah, byon. They come and do check-ups on us. Well, Mammon only goes to see those two. Verde though, he's nice. He's the only one who gives us injections to numb the pain before he starts the check-ups. The other scientists just start straight away." This was the boy in the cage next door. He had a bandage going from one cheek to the other, going over his nose too. His hair was a dirty blond and he seemed to sit on his hind legs like a dog instead of sitting cross legged.

"Are you all ill?" Tsunayoshi asks. What other reason could there be for check-ups and bandages?

All of them burst out laughing. It doesn't sound like very happy laughter though.

"Kufufu~ Kufufufu Ahfufufufu. You couldn't be farther from the truth little one." Tsunayoshi goes and stands infront of the laughing boy.

"Really? What's with all the plasters then? I only get plasters when I fall over." He rolls up one sleeve to show the plaster on his elbow. Him and gavel don't mix very well.

"Oya? You're here and don't know what happens? We are experiments." Tsunayoshi doesn't think the words and the smile match.

"Experiments?" That was what Verde called some of his work. Although that name was usually only given to work with the pretty coloured liquids he was told not to touch or drink.

Mukuro leans through the bars to ruffle Tsunayoshi's hair "So cute and so naive. Why not let us out and we can talk about it." The boy gestures behind Tsunayoshi to where a set of keys are hanging on the wall. It takes a few attempts, along with a metal box to finally reach the keys but soon he does and he lets them out.

They sit on the floor in a small circle. The gang of Experiments knew better than to try and escape. The doors only opened one way freely and that was inwards. The guards needed to enter a pin number to get back outside of the room. That did mean that their new friend was stuck in there with them as well.

"I am Mukuro. They are experimenting on me to see if it's possible for a person to remember their time in the other Paths of Reincarnation. Next to me is My Precious Chrome. She was in an accident and lost her internal organs. When her parents left her to die, Estraneo offered to take care of her. In actuality they are experimenting to see if Illusions can keep a body running or not. After all, many men are injured in battle, so if Illusions could fool the body into thinking it's fine, then they can continue to fight longer."

"Why does Vip- ah, Mammon come and see you?" After visiting the Varia, Tsunayoshi had learnt that everyone else knew her as Mammon and that she preferred it that way. So in an effort to make her happy, he called her Mammon to everyone else.

"They found out that Chrome and I have the capability to become extraordinary illusionists. Mammon is the only one able to teach us. If an illusionist isn't taught how to control their powers then they can drive themselves, or those around them, insane. And Estraneo would like to keep us whole." So Viper was doing a good thing then.

"I'm Ken, byon!" says the blond boy after the small silence. "They want to see if it's possible to utilise animal traits during battle." That would explain the way he was sitting then.

"Chikusa" says the last boy. "They are messing around in my brain to try and heighten my reflexes and body movement so I can fight better than the enemies can"

Tsunayoshi looks at each of them in shock. "They want you to fight?" he asks unbelievingly.

"Kufufu~. What a cruel world we live in, for that is exactly correct. Estraneo are experimenting on children and adults to create the best fighting force possible. We are nothing more than mutated soldiers. They don't even see us as human anymore." Mukuro scoffs. Yet his voice sounds like he's a king looking down on the world. Maybe he doesn't see himself as human either.

"Only Mammon and Verde do" inputs Chikusa

"Yep, byon. They are the only ones who are worried about us." He says with a smile. Yet that smile soon turns a growl, lips raised to show teeth. Really sharp teeth. "The others beat us and hit us if we don't do what they say."

The girl sniffs and starts to cry, remembering her horrible treatment. Mukuro picks the tiny creature up and settles her in his lap, stroking her hair. Seeing them together like that reminds Tsunayoshi of the feeling from earlier. Now he knows who this gift was for. Crawling over to the crying girl he wipes the tears away.

"Hey now Chrome, don't cry. Everything will be alright. Look I'm going to give this to you. You can hug it whenever you get scared. You've just got to be brave alright." The girl sniffs and looks at him with watery eyes. He hands over the object he's been holding all this time. It was an owl cuddly toy. Mainly snow white, it also had black on its wing tips and on the tips of its tail. He laughs and smiles as he hands it over. Chrome looks at the smiling boy in shock, awed by the power of his smile. She makes a faint effort to smile too.

"Mukurowl" she whispers. Tsunayoshi makes a questioning noise in the back of his throat. Chrome takes the toy and hugs it tight, whilst moving closer to Mukuro at the same time. "Name, Mukurowl"

Tsunayoshi laughs as Mukuro hugs Chrome tighter "That's a great name. I have a Lion and I named him Natsu. I'll bring him next time."

"Heh, If there's ever a next time" mumbles Ken, looking down and away.

Tsunayoshi stands and stomps over to Ken, hands on his hips. How could he talk like that? "Of course there's going to be a next time!" he shouts.

Ken looks up, a hopeless look of reality in his eyes. "Yeah right. We could be dead before you come again"

Tsunayoshi grits his teeth and puts his hands on Ken's shoulders, griping tightly and shaking sense into the boy. "I won't let that happen! I'll talk to Verde and he'll make sure you guys are alright!" Verde wouldn't let anything bad happen to them, he was sure of it. Verde might be crazy, he wasn't called the Mad Scientist for nothing, but he was still human. Tsunayoshi was sure he could persuade Verde to save these people. "If he won't then I'll save you!"

All four people in the room freeze in shock. He would do… what for them? Ken looks up into warm brown eyes. "Why would you do that for us? We're just a group of dangerous experiments. We could kill you without you noticing."

Tsunayoshi smiles. "Because you are my friends"

They were… his friends?

Ken leaps up and tackles Tsunayoshi to the ground before licking his face "Friends, byon!" A small friendly wrestling match ensues until Ken stops and hisses, holding one of the bandaged areas. "Ouch". Tsunayoshi immediately climbs off Ken and runs his hands over the area hoping to take the pain away. "hehe, it's fine byon, just over stretched."

"_Tsunayoshi" _The shout is faint but Tsunayoshi would recognise it anywhere.

"Verde! I'm in here!" he shouts.

He can hear running footsteps before the door is thrown open. Forgetting himself for a moment, Verde picks the boy up and hugs him before checking for injuries "Thank goodness, I thought they had gotten you" Tsunayoshi can see the panic in Verde's eyes, something he has never seen before. Verde has always looked calm, even when experiments went wrong. Seeing that the boy is alright, Verde quickly puts his back down again and resumes his attitude of superiority.

Viper isn't far behind Verde, rushing into the room too and crouching to be on his level. "Are you alright Tsunayoshi?" she asks. Tsunayoshi takes one look towards his friends before bursting out into tears and hugging the psychic.

"It's not fair!" he cries, gripping her robe tighter "Why are they being looked after like that?" Viper takes a look up to see who Tsunayoshi is talking about and finds two of her students and the other two boys who are always with them. Chrome and Mukuro were very good students actually. Even though Chrome could barely talk since she was so young, Viper could communicate through her illusions and easily show her what to do and what was going wrong. Mukuro was interested in getting better for Chrome's sake so he could do a better job with her internal organs.

Watery doe eyes look up towards Verde "Please! Save them!" he cries. Verde is torn, he really wants to make Tsunayoshi stop crying since it was pulling at his heart. He had realised long ago that Tsunayoshi was one of the only people able to invoke emotions in him, and in some of the others, and no longer tried to fight the feeling. However he also knew how dangerous some of these experiments were. He didn't know if he could keep them alive.

"Tsunayoshi, I don't know…" he starts. Small hands latch onto his leg, nail digging in harshly due to their determination, not due to wanting to harm Verde.

One fist beats gently against his leg as Tsunayoshi continues to cry. "Verde, please. Look after my friends. I don't want them to disappear."

Sighing, he turns around to take their charts off the wall. Really, the things this boy made him do. Flicking through them Verde's brows furrow in concentration and worry. They were all far too along in their experiments to stop now. Not continuing would harm them more that trying to complete it would. Stopping now would kill them. Attempting to finish the experiment might kill them. Looking at the children in question, he could see that they would rather take the risk and continue on living than to die.

For the crying boy attacked to his leg, for the only person in the world he cares about, he would try.

"I'll see what I can do. I'll try to get them to give me permission to continue the experiments under my guidance. They have a better chance of survival if I look after them." He turns to the children, eyes hard. "You all know that I will have to finish the experiments. You are all too far gone to revert back to normal." The children look between each other for a moment, taking that in. Finally Ken smiles up at Verde.

"Of course, these powers will be cool!" The others all agree. They were young enough to be able to adapt around them and live a relatively normal life. They'd be like super heroes.

"Your lessons can wait until after then" adds in Viper, taking to the illusionists.

"Thank you Verde!" beams Tsunayoshi before running over to Chrome and stroking her hair "See, everything's going to be fine. I promise. You've got me and Mukuro and Ken and Chikusa and Verde and Mammon and we're all going to look after you. So smile for me Chrome!" Chrome gives a hesitant smile before hugging the owl tighter once more.

"Kufufufu~ What an interesting boy you are. Being able to control them like this." And his eyes flick up to the two adults in the room "But thank you, for trying to save my comrades. I'm sure we'll get to know each other very well in the future" A plan was already beginning to formulate in Mukuro's mind. A plan that involved that cute boy becoming his. A plan where he finally got his sweet revenge. He was sure that Tsunayoshi would be a key tool for his arsenal.

"Quick get back in" hisses Viper, feeling the presence of the other Scientists coming closer to their location. The four on the ground quickly scrabble up and run into their cages. Being found outside resulted in one very harsh beating and torture. If they were to survive the experiments, they would need to be in top physical shape, meaning they'd have to follow the rules and not give reasons for their keepers to beat them anymore. The doors clank shut before the scientists arrive. When they do arrive, they find Verde re-wrapping Ken's bandages and Viper in the middle of another lesson, Tsunayoshi sat in her lap.

"Viper, I think it's time to take Tsunayoshi home. I need to discuss some things with the Estraneo Boss" says Verde finishing up, talking before the scientists can speak. Viper nods her head, Tsunayoshi waves at them and they both leave the premises.

* * *

><p>As soon as Tsunayoshi gets home, he runs down the path, flings open the door with a loud bang and runs into the living room. Spotting the person he's looking for, he runs forwards and flings himself into the man's lap before curling up. Fon always made Tsunayoshi feel calm. Colonnello did too, but he wasn't here right now. And not that he'd ever tell the woman, but Lal could at times too, when she wasn't acting all army like. Fon didn't say anything, he just let the boy calm himself down. He knew where they had gone today so he just let Tsunayoshi do what he wanted; it must have been scary for the poor boy if he had gone underground by accident.<p>

At the dinner table after Viper explained what happened, Colonnello pats the boy on the head since Tsunayoshi was sitting on his lap, and smiles at him "Tomorrow, you're going to a really happy place. You'll like the kids there. One of them is just like you but a lot shyer." Tsunayoshi sounded happy about that. It's be nice to go somewhere nice again. The Varia and Estrano had been scary.

* * *

><p><strong>I know that the timeline concerning Chrome is a little off, but it was either this or to ignore her totally. As you should be able to tell, the experiments are only half done, so Mukuro can't escape by force yet.<strong>

**I think this chapter is cute and sweet in a sad and endearing way. Rather than being sugary cute, it's sweet cute since Tsunayoshi is trying to protect them all.**

**The reason Colonnello and Lal calm Tsunayoshi down is due to their Tranquility Rain Flames. And Fon because... well, he's Fon who is always calm and happy. **

**And I've finally posted that new Reborn fic I was talking about earlier. Like I said, the main character is someone who you would least expect it to be: LEON!**

**The fic is all about how Leon and Reborn become best buds. It's called _The Fight Between Leon and Reborn_. Here's a summary for you all.**

Summary:** Reborn hated Leon. He hated Leon and everything the green Chameleon represented, since Leon is only another reminder of the Curse. Yet all Leon wants is to be accepted. So Leon will fight with everything he has to be accepted by his new master. Reborn on the other hand, not only has to deal with seeing that horrible Chameleon every day, but he also has to get used to his new body. But slowly over time, they become the perfect partners.**

**So I hope you all enjoy that one too. It was an idea that was in my head for ages so I just had to write it down. The first chapter is just setting the story up really.**

**I'll see you all next time.  
><strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412  
><strong>

**First Published 26 April 2012  
><strong>


	19. And their Reputation proceeding them

Chapter 19

With their Reputation proceeding them.

"Tatta" sings one childish voice

"Latta latta latta" returns a squeaky voice

"Latta"

"Tattatta latta latta"

"TATTALATTA!" they both sing.

"Oh, you two are quite cheerful this morning." Comments Luce, listening to Skull and Tsunayoshi singing as they walk down the hall.

"Happy? I'm always this happy Luce." says Skull. Luce and Tsunayoshi laugh.

"Skull's been like this since we woke up." Explains Tsunayoshi, hugging Skull's neck tighter. Skull puts the boy down on the table and went to make some coffee.

"Well Skull actually likes this Family. He's been looking after them ever since they first appeared." Explains Luce.

"First appeared? They are a new Family?" asks Tsunayoshi. Luce had made it sound as if they had just appeared out of the mist one day.

"The Family is as old as Vongola, kora." Says Colonnello, ruffling Tsunayoshi's hair as he walks past. "However all traces of them disappeared after the first generation. One day they literally arrived on the Island and staked a claim to be there. The lot living here are supposedly the tenth generation."

"Well if Skull likes then then I'm sure I will too!" smiles Tsunayoshi before starting on his breakfast.

* * *

><p>The image carved into their gate was a odd one, looking like a very weird compass. But what was weirder was the man who opened the gate. He had bright red hair and ruby eyes. His eyes interested Tsunayoshi greatly. For a start they were red, like Xanxus's. But unlike Xanxus's these weren't scary nor cold, they were very warm eyes. However it was the pupils that interested Tsunayoshi. It was almost as if Shimon's compass was in his eyes. It was a little disturbing at first to see but the small boy quickly got used to it. It truly embodied the Family's spirit.<p>

But then his intuition provided some more interesting information. "Um, you're with the VCubed aren't you, since you should be dead too." Not the best first line but certainly one of the most unusual. The man was slightly taken aback before smiling and kneeling down to be on Tsunayoshi's level.

"That's right. I came from the past with Giotto so that I could look after my family. My name is Cozarto Shimon, also known as Shimon Primo. It's very nice to meet you- Giotto told me about you." He holds out his hand for Tsunayoshi to shake. Tsunayoshi takes it with a huge smile.

He laughs before replying "It's nice to meet you too!"

"Well why not come in and I'll introduce you to the rest of my family." He turns and walks into the garden and towards the house. As he gets closer he shouts "Hey, Everyone. Skull and Colonnello are here to see you all" A large gaggle of children run out of the house and tackle Skull and Colonnello to the ground. Only one boy stays back.

One girl with long dark black hair stands a few steps away from Colonnello and flicks what appears to be a fan into her hand. "Be Purified Respectfully!" she shouts before attempting to attack Colonnello. The soldier just smiles and jumps out of the way of every attack, laughing the whole time. Tsunayoshi could see that the attacks were clumsy but were filled with a lot of determination.

"Nice to see you again too Adelheid, kora" he sounded as if this happened every time.

As he jumps backwards once more, there is a shout from a blond boy behind him "I'll get you this time, in the end!" and the boy makes a punch towards Colonnello's leg.

"I don't think so Koyo!" Colonnello warns jumping into the air. Since both children were attacking simultaneously, Adelheid's fan ends up whacking Koyo in the cheek whilst he ends up punching her stomach.

Tsunayoshi turns from the fighters to see who has jumped on Skull. In fact after the first hug they had gotten off of Skull and they were now sat in a circle on the floor.

"Isn't my Adel beautiful when she fights like that?" says one boy. He had brown hair under a hat. "especially when she does that!" Adelheid had just spun around quickly before kicking Colonnello, causing her skirt to fly up.

"Just wait until she's older Julie, then she'll be really beautiful" explains Skull watching the fight too. Adelheid hears this and stops her attempt to attack Colonnello. A blush lights her face as she tries to pull her skirt down. "Oi, you two, stop it" she growls embarrassed. The two males laugh.

"So Skull what will we be doing today?" asks one boy. He's got blond brown hair and is rather bulky. The boy next to him turns to look up at Skull too, but doesn't say anything. He looks older than the rest and a lot scarier with bright blond hair.

"Well Rauji," Skull says looking at the bulky child, "and Kaoru" that was the blond boy "I'm here to introduce you to someone who's really important to me." Skull goes to point at Tsunayoshi but finds he's not where Skull left him.

Instead Tsunayoshi is running towards the boy who hadn't joined the others. In his haste, he trips over a rock and rolls, coming to a stop infront of the other boy. "hehe" nervously laughs Tsunayoshi from his position laying on the floor looking up at the boy "Um, I'm Tsunayoshi, nice to meet you"

The other boy laughs quietly before taking a step forwards. Unluckily he misses the step and tumbles down the stone steps to land flat on his face next to Tsunayoshi. The two boys look at each other before laughing at how clumsy they are.

"Tsunayoshi" shouts Colonnello, having watched the spectacular fall.

"Enma" shouts Skull, also having seen the boy's decent. Both adults run over, as do most of the children.

"Haahaa, That's loser Enma for you" laughs Koyo.

"I can't believe how clumsy you are Enma." Says Julie, looking down at the boy but making no move to help him up.

"Enma can you stand?" asks Adelheid before smacking Koyo and Julie for making fun of Enma.

Tsunayoshi smiles at the exchange between the Shimon kids. But suddenly there is a strange face in his view. He's pretty sure that it's a girl, but she has sunglasses on that hide her eyes. That actually makes Tsunayoshi realise that all of the Shimon kids have red eyes. How unusual. This girl however has really short hair that is dyed into different colours and spiked. She also has a rubber ring on like those you take swimming.

"Pii Pii Pii! I'm Shitt-P but call me Shottopi-chan!" She then clicks her tongue before extending down a hand to help him up. Her nails are all painted different colours to match her hair. Tsunayoshi smiles at her and takes her hand and hauls himself into a sitting position. Skull kneels down next to him.

"Tsunayoshi are you alright? You didn't hurt yourself did you? The others would be mad with me if you did" Shull shakes slightly imagining the punishments certain others would give him. Tsunayoshi, remembering these certain others, mainly Reborn, quickly stands up. Reborn would shoot him if he remained on the floor for too long, and just because he wasn't in sight didn't mean he wasn't around.

"God you lot are a handful. First you attack our guests and then you make a spectacle of yourselves. How am I supposed to look after you all alone?" says Cozarto brushing his hair back with a hand in exasperation.

"Alone? Your parents aren't here?" Tsunayoshi innocently asks. The others all look down and away and Tsunayoshi suddenly feels rather guilty "I'm sorry" he cries waving his hands in the air to placate them.

"It's alright, you didn't know. We're all orphans. The Ninth Generation took us in and looked after us. Just before they died they brought us here" explains Enma quietly.

"Skull came and looked after us sometimes as did Vongola and Giglio Nero and a lot of the other Families." Adds in Kaoru.

"When Verde came to the past and explained what was going on, I immediately knew that I had to come here and look after them. I snuck into the experiment and got brought here too. And I'm glad I did. My Tenth Generation are adorable and very worthy successors" inputs Cozarto smiling sweetly down at them all. They all perk up at the praise.

"What's that you've got there?" asks Julie sceptically and haughtily. He leans in closer to the object Tsunayoshi has in is hands. Enma had noticed it earlier and found it cute. The rest had been too involved in greeting Skull and Colonnello to notice. Rather rudely, he snatches it out of Tsunayoshi's hands to take a better look.

"That's Natsu. " answers Tsunayoshi before holding his hands out. "Can I have him back please?"

"No. Boys don't need stuffed toys. We got rid of Enma's a long time ago." Denies Julie. Not that Enma was going to tell Julie but he had managed to hide one toy from them all.

Tsunayoshi pouts, which many of the others find adorable. "Give Natsu back please" says Tsunayoshi once more, this time more forceful.

Julie lifts his chin up and grins evilly "No" . He quickly runs off around the side of the house and into the back gardens. Tsunayoshi gapes, not believing what Julie had just done.

"I'm going to liquefy him when I get my hands on him" growls Adelheid.

"I'm sorry" mumbles Enma quietly.

"I'm getting him back!" shouts Tsunayoshi before running after the thief. They all gasp as Tsunayoshi falls over once more, but he quickly scrabbles back up and continues on his quest.

"Aren't you going to help?" asks Cozarto. The children assume that this is addressed to them and go off running after the pair. In fact the question was actually directed at the two other adults. Colonnello and Skull shake their heads.

"Nope. He's perfectly capable of getting it back himself. Lal hasn't been training him for the past year for nothing." Smiles Colonnello. Cozarto just nods before inviting the two inside for tea in a place where they could watch the children from.

When Tsunayoshi enters the garden at the back of the house, it's different to what he was expecting. The garden is split up into different types of landscape. There's everything from a miniature forest to a desert and even a swamp. He can't see Julie nor Natsu anywhere though. Tsunayoshi looks around at the stampede of feet to see that the rest of the Shimon have come to help.

The scary looking one comes forwards and Tsunayoshi feels slightly apprehensive of him. However the feeling quickly goes as Kaoru keeps on walking down the grass "Come" is all he says. Tsunayoshi turns and follows the boy, the others all coming along to.

"Maybe he's in here, in the end" shouts Koyo before diving into the mini-forest. As Tsunayoshi tries to follow, he's amazed that Koyo can move this fast through it. He himself is having trouble manoeuvring around all of the branches, even after he helped Colonnello with the soldier's own forest training. When they finally reach a clearing in the middle of the miniature forest, all there is to see is a pile of sand.

"That idiot got away, in the end." Says Koyo, shrugging his shoulders. He's only helping as something to do.

"He's over here" shouts Rauji.

Tsunayoshi runs in the direction of the shout. What he doesn't notice is that Koyo stays where he is, not bothering with the chase anymore. He agrees with Julie after all. He was just listening to Adelheid's orders since he didn't want to be _purified respectfully_. Just as Tsunayoshi exits the clearing, Enma stumbles in, covered in cuts and scratches from the branches. After realising Tsunayoshi has already moved on he rolls his eyes and moves on.

"Guru Giri Guru. Come on, he's getting away!" shouts Shittopi-chan. Tsunayoshi blinks. Where had she gotten the bike from? And why does this bike bounce?

He's forcefully shaken out of his surprise when she turns around and rides off into the swamp. "O-oi, wait for me!" he shouts as he runs after the girl. He nearly falls straight into the swamp, before he notices that Shittopi-chan is actually bouncing along a path of rocks that are barely visible above the surface of the swamp. Carefully he jumps from one to another, trying to catch up to the eccentric girl and, even further ahead, the thief. Half way along the journey, Tsunayoshi notices a lion shaped imprint on the mud and realises that Natsu must have been dropped in it. However instead of crying like he wants to, he just puts on a determined face and runs even faster catching up to the bike and it's rider quickly.

Just as Tsunayoshi is about to slip and fall into the swamp, Shitt P catches him and throws him onto the dry bank. "G-g-g-Gooo get him!" she shouts, sounding like a cheerleader. She wanted to help the boy as much as possible. Julie was being mean. If Tsunayoshi wanted to carry a stuffed animal with him then why shouldn't he. Personal preferences were what they were, personal. If Tsunayoshi liked it then everyone else should respect that. She was going to give him a hiding later on for being so closed minded.

Adelheid grabs the boy and pulls him up from his landing on the bank before dragging him along, muttering angrily under her breath. Tsunayoshi hoped it wasn't directed at him. Tsunayoshi realises that they were following a stream backwards, going up river. It must have been the water that fed the swamp. They quickly arrive at a pool. Adelheid lets go of Tsunayoshi to take off her boots and socks, Tsunayoshi quickly follows suit and rolls up his trousers, guessing that they would be wading through the pool. As he steps into the water he shivers: it was freezing. Adelheid doesn't seem to mind though, too bent on her plans for liquidation to notice.

Shitt P puts Enma down having carried him in her arms over her swamp. He thanks her before running to catch up with the others, falling into the stream along the way.

"Wow, Enma is worse than Tsunayoshi was before we started to train him" says Colonnello, watching the boy fall over yet again. They are currently sat on the roof since it has the best view of the children's antics. Colonnello can easily shoot any threats from up here too.

"Enma's always been like that. He's rather shy. In fact Tsunayoshi is the only other person outside of the Family and you guys that Enma has ever spoken to." Replies Cozarto, hiding his face behind his hand as Enma falls directly into the pool shoes on and all.

"Don't worry. Just leave him to Tsunayoshi" smiles Skull. Cozarto looks out of the corner of his eyes at Skull, wondering what that statement meant. "Tsunayoshi will be a very good friend and influence on him. I'm sure of it" Well, Tsunayoshi had done a very good job on all of them after all.

Back at the pool, Adelheid smacks Tsuna with her fans for complaining about the cold water one too many times- basically once in general.

"Julie Katou get back here before I purify you respectfully" She shouts.

"Now you know I'd do anything for you Adel, but I would quite like to retain the use of my legs, so I'm afraid that's a no." shouts Julie in reply, waving to them as he jumps over the rocky hilltop. The young girl, in true 5 year old fashion, stomps her foot and crosses her arms before pouting.

As they climb out of the pool Adelheid hears a scream and a splash from behind them, turns and re-enters the ice cold pool. "God Enma" she sighs before making her way back to the flailing boy "It's only knee deep you idiot, stand up."

Tsunayoshi looks up at the hill, looking like a mountain due to his small size, and wonders just how he's going to get up there. No one had taught him how to handle this terrain yet. But this is Natsu he's saving so he grits his teeth and just goes for it. Like Reborn said, if you were going to do anything you had to give it your all. Reborn had given it a different name though- do it with your dying will. Tsunayoshi wasn't sure of he liked the sound of it and was too young to realise it meant live your life to the fullest because you never know when you are going to die. That term applied to Reborn's life better than it did to Tsunayoshi's since being killed was an everyday threat in Reborn's line of work.

Even though the rocks are cutting into his bare feet, he keeps in climbing, ignoring the pain like the others had told him too. He stops however when hands pick him up and throw him over their shoulder. It was the bulky one, Rauji. Properly shoed, he literally flew up the rocky mountain, his feet finding all the right places to step. He never tripped once, never placed his foot on a fault line and never had the rocks crumble from underneath him. Rauji was just following the orders of Adel and Cozarto and was willing to help the small boy get his lion back.

"Thank you" says Tsunayoshi patting the man on the head as he was lifted off. Rauji smiles back.

Turing to face the next landscape, Tsunayoshi found it was the desert… and that Julie was trying to bury Natsu under the sand.

"Natsu!" Tsunayoshi shouts before running closer to them.

Rauji smiles as he turns and sees Enma tumble back down the surface of rocks, getting hit on the head by a falling rock once he lands. Always one to serve Enma anyway he can, Rauji slides back down and carries the red head up the same way he did to Tsunayoshi. Enma arrives on the scene between Tsunayoshi and Julie in time to catch what happens next.

"Give Natsu back please" says Tsunayoshi once more being diplomatic like Fon had taught him. Violence was to be a last resort if talking about the problem didn't work. Julie's answer was to kick more sand over the stuffed toy and smirk at the brunet.

"Julie please" says Enma quietly, coming to stand next to the pair.

"No way Loser Enma. Stuffed animals only look good on cute girls, which he is not." Replies Julie folding his arms and raising his chin

"He did look good with the lion though" argues back Enma

"Did not"

"Did too"

"Did not"

"Did too."

Whilst Julie got louder and louder with each turn of their shouting match, Enma got quieter and quieter until he was barely audible.

"He did not!" shouts Julie finally, before stomping on the lion.

Tsunayoshi had had enough. First Natsu had been stolen, then dropped in the mud, and by the look of it in the pool too, and was not being not only buried in the sand but stepped on. Tsunayoshi wasn't going to let it continue any longer. Natsu meant a lot to him.

Closing his eyes Tsunayoshi says once more "Give him back" yet this time his voice is ice cold and sharp. It was oddly calm despite the aura coming off the boy. Tsunayoshi opens his eyes and Enma wanted to faint right there and then. He falls backwards at the power in Tsunayoshi's glare, and he wasn't even the target of it. Julie is frozen in place by it, fearing for his life. He didn't know the kid was this powerful.

Tsunayoshi was just copying what Reborn did when he was mad. It seemed to work on everyone else. In fact, it was a little bit of everyone. The piercing eyes belonged to Reborn, who could amazingly communicate a lot with only a look. The stance belonged to Verde, who got angry whenever someone (other than Tsunayoshi) interrupted or messed with one of his experiments. The aura was Viper's, honed by her time in the Varia.

Colonnello, who had jumped down from the roof to follow when Tsunayoshi had gone over the mountain and out of sight, smiles proudly at Tsunayoshi. That glare and aura alone was a good self defence mechanism. If he could scare the enemy off then he wouldn't need to fight. Cozarto is impressed too. Skull, like ever before, is scared since it reminds him so much of Reborn and the others who beat him up.

Like a switch was pressed, the aura goes and Tsunayoshi turns back into the cute and cuddly boy he is. Tilting his head to one side, he holds out his hands for one final time "Give Natsu back, ne?" Julie scrabbles to get the lion out of the sand, brushed off, re-fluffed up and into Tsunayoshi's hands as quickly as possible. "Thank you!" Tsunayoshi beams, cuddling the lion close.

Cozarto laughs out loud drawing the attention of the others who had also arrived. "You're just like Giotto. He could switch between happy and angry in an instant if something was being threatened. Now that you have Natsu back, how about we go and have some snacks?"

Tsunayoshi looks down the hill, over the pool and the swamp and the forest and the grass and sighs. "But it's such a long and hard way back. I barely made it here in the first place." He whines. He really didn't want to do the trip again.

Cozarto and the rest of the Shimon laugh. "You don't have to, we can just take the walkway back" explains Cozarto. Tsunayoshi's jaw drops and his eyes widen in shock. There was an easy way to get here? Why hadn't anyone told him! Enma takes his wrist and guides him away, strangely enough in the opposite direction to the house. Past the desert area is one last landscape. It's purely bare earth, no plants no rocks or anything else in sight. Just a brown circle at the end of the garden. On the outside of the circle was something that represented all of the others, like a tree, a small section of sand, a small pool of water and so on. He somehow knew this was Enma's.

They walk over and towards the back right corner of the house's wall. There Tsunayoshi sees a walkway, with arches of roses covering it from the sun and rain. The walkway takes them back to the back entrance of the house. No climbing, swimming or jumping involved.

When Tsunayoshi noticed Enma looking at Natsu every so often, Tsunayoshi holds him out in the red head's direction. "Do you want to hold him?" he asks. Enma nods silently before taking the lion and petting it.

* * *

><p>"Now this is interesting" remarked the man in the trees. Tsunayoshi had just hugged Enma in good bye and the boy had hugged back. "Since both Primos are here, there won't be any confusion. Any bad blood between the two Families would have been sorted out by the men in question themselves. I'm glad. Vongola never did like fighting Shimon."<p>

"What are you talking about?" asks Byakuran. He went to find this man whenever he felt the disturbance that signalled his arrival. This man was interesting.

"There was a fight between Shimon and Vongola a very long time ago. One of Primo's guardians didn't like the Shimon and got rid of them. Yet not all of them were killed in the betrayal. The Guardian stayed alive, swapping bodies and making sure that Vongola stayed a very strong Family. Due to the betrayal Shimon hated Vongola and were shunned by the rest of the Mafia world. They became so small that no one had heard of them. There must have been some reason for them to come forth now." The man mumbled that last part to himself as if figuring out a puzzle. "Anyway, when Shimon did come forth, I expect there was a fight between them and Vongola; it would have been sorted out by both Primos by the look of it. It seems to me that no one hates them around here."

"But why's that a good thing?" asks the child.

"Because strong bonds between everyone will be needed" says the man, serious for once.

* * *

><p>"I wish I could have seen that" remarks Verde after hearing about Natsu's kidnapping adventure. He was talking about Tsunayoshi's scary aura. None of them believed that the innocent boy infront of them was capable of something that scary. Accept the three Arcobaleno who were there, watching the scene. That's right, Reborn was stalking Tsunayoshi once more, in the 'name' of the boy's safety.<p>

"We're going out tomorrow Tsunayoshi" says Fon turning to the boy who was sat in Luce's lap "Reborn's coming too, to see a certain lady"

"Ohh~" sings Tsunayoshi "Does Reborn like this lady?" he asks, ignoring the glare Reborn is giving him; A feat few can manage.

"She's the one obsessed with me" he growls before leaving the table.

* * *

><p><strong>I re-read the first half of the Shimon arc last night just to reference everything, so hopefully it should be alright. 'In the end' is Koyo's version of Ryohei's extreme, and to be purified respectfully is the same as being bitten to death. Similarly, liquidation is the same as discipline. And I hope you are all okay with me calling them Shimon rather than Simon. It just sounds better to me. And for those who don't know Shimon means Reputation, hence the name of the chapter.<strong>

**Wasn't the latest chapter awesome? Chrome was amazing in it. I wanted to cry by the end of it, she's so strong emotionally. It was just so sweet.  
><strong>

**And make sure to check out chapter 2 of the Fight Between Leon and Reborn, where I explain how I think Leon got his powers and arrived in Reborn's hands. And it's not a 'sunny' image, Estraneo aren't the nicest of people after all. **

**Join me, Tsunayoshi, Reborn and Fon next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 29 April 2012**


	20. You are not alone

Chapter 20

You are not alone.

_Hmm, I couldn't find the chapter about the past between the Hitman obsessed assassin and her idol so I made it up. I just remember them meeting at a garden party. Oh well, this is AU after all._

* * *

><p>As Tsunayoshi hugs the two animals closer to him, he wonders who would like Reborn that much. He wasn't the most sociable person in the world, nor the most tolerable. However he was protective, strong and in Tsunayoshi's opinion, Perfectly Awesome. He looks up at the man in question, who was for once walking down the street with him instead of hiding in the shadows. He really wanted to meet this person!<p>

They walk down the Row past the houses of Vongola and Shimon, and pass the recreational centre that ran perpendicular to the Row. The house they are visiting is the first on the right of this second block in Mafia Row. The Gate to this house is different to the others, being made of intricately welded iron creating patterns of curves and leaves.

Fon rings the bell and a maid opens the gate and, upon seeing just who exactly is at their gate, let's them in immediately. She had been warned that they were coming to visit today. But it was such an honour to have two of the Arcobaleno in their house. She wanted to faint on the spot. It was rare to see the Arcobaleno unless it was for business purposes.

Tsunayoshi looks around the garden and finds that there's nothing particularly special about the place. It looks rather normal and very Italian. What is interesting is the 7 year old with pink hair who is running towards them. The moment he sees her his stomach starts to hurt. But there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the girl. These feelings of his were so weird sometimes.

"Reborn, My love! You came to see me!" she shouts before stopping in front of him. Tsunayoshi looks on as the tiniest of smiles reaches Reborn's lips. His eyes weren't as harsh as normal either. He must like her too then, but not to the degree it seems that she does.

"Good Morning Bianchi" says Reborn, tilting his fedora down politely.

"Lookie lookie Reborn, I've mastered a new technique." Says the girl proudly. She holds out her hand and presents what appears to be a lot of different types of nut. Turning to a nearby flower bed, Tsunayoshi watches as her aura changes.

"Poison Hail!" she shouts before chucking them in the air. Somehow during their flight, the nuts turn purple and rancid almost as if decomposing. After their transformation is complete, they fall towards the ground picking up speed and smash into the flower bed, soil being chucked in the air. Tsunayoshi's eyes grow wide as the flowers in that bed turn a funny shade of purple too and wilt before decomposing totally. Bianchi turns to Reborn and beams at him. "So did you like it?"

Reborn takes a good look at the flower bed, eyes analytical and considering. "Well done, you're improving" he says softly, which is a sign of compliment from Reborn.

"That was awesome. How can you do that? I've never seen it before" gasps Tsunayoshi, poking a flower that is quickly turning into blue goo.

Bianchi flicks her hair over her shoulder before crossing her arms superiorly. "That is my Poison Cooking, a technique I came up with myself. It's totally unique and very useful for doing Hits with" She looks up at Reborn out of the corner of her eye trying to impress him. It was her dream one day to work with him. Not that she had done any hits with it, she was far too young to take on missions. Then she takes a good look at the boy before her along with how close he was standing next to Reborn. It was totally inside his private space and the Hitman didn't even care.

He was a threat and she would deal with him accordingly.

"You are the one living with the Arcobaleno?" she asks, voice slowly becoming colder. Tsunayoshi nods. "You've been spending a lot of time with Reborn" Tsunayoshi wasn't sure if that was a question or a statement so did nothing. "Well not for much longer. You aren't worthy to take my Love away from me!"

Where she got the platter of leaves from Tsunayoshi didn't know, but he is more worried about how she had managed to turn a leaf of rocket into a multi-tipped knife. Not to mention the pineapple leaves, they were sharp enough to start with.

"Heeii!" he screams turning to run around Fon and further into the garden. Fon goes to chase after them but Reborn grabs his shoulder.

"Heh, calm down Fon" Reborn smirks at his comment "It'll be good practice for them both. And building up a resistance to poison would be good for him" Trust Reborn to think about the training.

Screaming his head off, he tries very hard to keep the poison away from the two animals in his hands. It was obvious that whatever she touched fell to pieces in a pile of purple gloop.

"You can't take him away from me!" she shouts, throwing another leaf turned knife. It appeared that she could only turn very small or light things into weapons since every now and again, something normal looking would fly past like a sandwich or a slice of cake.

"I'm not going to take him from you" he whimpers, still running.

"He's too important to me to lose" she shouts as they round a corner, maids jumping out of the way.

Tsunayoshi slows to a stop at hearing this. Tilting his head, he asks "He is?" Bianchi stops too and thankfully stops throwing items of food, poisoned or otherwise, at him. She looks at the floor and hugs herself.

"He is. He's very important to me. Whilst everyone was fussing over the new born Hayato at a garden party, Reborn was the only one who came over and checked up on me. Not as the Boss's daughter, but as me. He talked to me like an equal and made me realise what I should be doing. He told me that Family is family and family is Family. In the mafia blood doesn't matter, what does is the spirit connecting the Family members together. It didn't matter about Hayato's mother, I should love him like a little brother anyway."

"That sounds like him. Reborn comes up with some rather thoughtful things every now and again." Agrees Tsunayoshi. Reborn had a way of reading right down to one's core: taking one's heart and reading it like a book, before taking his pen and scribbling over the parts he didn't like, correcting thoughts and feelings until everything was perfect. "I think of all of the Arcobaleno as my Family." He smiles.

That was the wrong thing to say. "He's going to be my Family" she shouts before resuming her attack. Tsunayoshi screams once more before dashing down the hallways. Maids and butlers shout and gasp in surprise whilst jumping out of the way.

"Che, what's with all of the noise?" says a voice coming from around a corner. Tsunayoshi runs past this person dodging them. "Ack, Aneki" That voice sounded painful and forced before Tsunayoshi heard a thump to the floor.

"Hayato!" shouts Bianchi.

Tsuna stops running and turns to look at what's happened. He finds the boy he had run past earlier on the floor clutching his stomach, with Bianchi leaning over him, worry clear on her face. Tsunayoshi runs over and kneels next to the boy, before asking Bianchi "Is he alright?"

Bianchi picks her brother up and carries him off down the corridor "Yes, Hayato will be alright. This happens every time he sees me recently. I think he must be so happy to see me that he faints in excitement"

Tsunayoshi looks at the pink haired girl unbelievingly. He was pretty sure the face Hayato had was not an excited nor happy one. It look more pain filled and scared to death than anything. Tsunayoshi follows Bianchi into the boy's room and sits on the bed beside him. Bianchi goes and comes back in with a wet cloth. "I trust you can look after my little brother" she asks. Tsunayoshi nods and after looking down at Hayato lovingly, she leaves, off to find Reborn once more.

Not long after Bianchi leaves, the boy stirs and opens his eyes. "Huh? Who are you?" the boy asks, sounding rather hostile.

"I'm Tsunayoshi. I came with Reborn and Fon. It's nice to meet you" he smiles at the boy who quickly looks away muttering something under his breath.

As the boy looks away he looks at the clock. "Ga! I'm going to be late. Oh, he's going to be really annoying now." Hayato climbs out of bed, tottering slightly and runs out of the room. In worry for the boy's safety, Tsunayoshi runs after him, waving to Reborn and Fon when he passes them in a corridor.

Hayato keeps on running until they reach the balcony leading out into the back garden. Once there, Tsunayoshi sees that there is an adult waiting for them. This man has a white lab coat on, shoulder length hair and could do with a shave. He was leaning on the balcony folding paper aeroplanes.

"You're late." He growls, not looking up from his work.

Hayato comes to a stop before the man and pants, hands on knees. "Aneki got in my way again" he explains. The man nods and continues on folding.

"Who's he?" asks Tsunayoshi, tapping Hayato's shoulder.

"He's my teacher, Trident Shamal. Every time he comes here, he comes with a different sister. I didn't think his family was that big. Most of them don't even look like him, but then again me and Aneki don't look too alike either. " Then Hayato turns and looks at Tsuna, finally realising the boy had followed him- he had just answered automatically. "Che, stop following me."

Tsunayoshi backs away from the glare.

In the meanwhile, Shamal has finished folding the paper and has walked around the side of the balcony to be roughly perpendicular to Hayato's position. Little did Hayato know but those were not his sisters, they were his girlfriends. But a brat like him wouldn't understand, so calling them sisters was best. At that age, Love was something that lasted forever, not less than a week. It's not his fault that there are so many pretty girls who all need attention!

"I'm starting the lesson brat" he shouted before launching a paper plane into the air. Hayato is quick to dismiss Tsuna in favour of his training. Pulling out a dynamite, he takes aim and throws it. It misses, but only slightly, and explodes in the air. "Stop watching me, you're putting my aim off" he shouts, whirling around to glare and growl at Tsunayoshi. Little Tsuna puts his hands up in defence and backs up right to the wall.

"Pathetic, next!" shouts Shamal before throwing another one. This time, Hayato hits the target, the paper quickly turning into ash confetti. The next 10 planes end up similarly.

"You've finally improved, about time" scoffs Shamal.

"Well, if I had a better teacher then maybe I'd be even better than you!" shouts Hayato back, stomping his foot and sticking his tongue out at the Doctor.

"As if anyone else would teach a brat like you. You should be happy that I'm even bothering with you when there are lots of Ladies- err- Sisters, that I need to see." To cover up his mistake, he moves on. "Now we'll be moving onto using two dynamite at once."

Hayato pulls two more dynamite out of nowhere- which Tsuna is secretly amazed by- and stands tall. "I'm ready whenever you are old man"

Shamal sends two planes into the air and watches Hayato's attempt. One hits its target whilst the other is off. Again and again, the same results happen. So Hayato changes tactics and throws one dynamite and then the other. It does work, but the aeroplane was practically on the ground by the time he got to it.

"Oy brat. If you hold them in different hands you'll never be able to get anywhere. Throw both at once." Advises Shamal, taking a cigarette and lighting it.

Hayato does as advised and starts to get it. However at one point the wind blows strongly and the dynamites get blown off course. Tsunayoshi's eyes widen and his gut screams at him. He runs forwards and pushes the boy to the ground, covering him with his own body. The Dynamites explode near them sending debris everywhere and scorching Tsunayoshi's back.

When Tsunayoshi opens his eyes once more, he stares right into shining grey eyes. They seem so shiny from the tears that are collecting there. Hayato's mouth is open in shock and he seems to have trouble speaking.

"No-No one's ever cared enough to save me before" Bianchi's mother seemed to hate him. His father was nice to him but seemed sad whenever he was with the boy. Sometimes his dad loved him and other times he seemed to hate Hayato. The maids and servants were always whispering behind his back. If he got harmed it was only ever his sister that cared for him, her and Shamal when he was in the mood. It made the boy wonder what he had done wrong. Tears start to fall from this stranger's kindness. "No one's ever done that before" he says again. Tsunayoshi smiles down at him. Just like he thought, Hayato wasn't as bad as he pretended. Just like Skull he pretended to be big to gain attention. Like Reborn he hid the softness, most likely to seem older to the adults around him, whereas Reborn hid the softness to seem even more dangerous. Tsunayoshi smiles at the boy.

"Please don't cry Hayato, you'd make me sad if you did." Tsunayoshi whispers kindly. Hayato sniffs up the tears and quickly wipes his eyes.

Shamal runs over and takes a look at the boy. "Oh heaven Reborn would murder me if anything happened to him. And then the rest would come after me too. I'm doomed. I should run now, even the Queen can't harm me as much as this lot can." He mumbles to himself. He sighs in relief when all he sees are scratches on the boy's back and even then they are few and shallow. "Oy, Chibi, you alright?" he asks. He was too scared to call Tsunayoshi a brat too.

Tsunayoshi climbs off of Hayato and winces at the cuts on his back. "Yeah, I'm fine, nothing's broken." He'd received worse when training with the others. Admittedly Dynamite had never been used, but knives and an untimely meeting with a rose bush produced similar results to now.

Even if the chibi said he was fine, Shamal was still going to treat him. Was Tsunayoshi a girl? No, cute but no. But he'd never meet another girl if this kid wasn't treated. Carefully picking him up, Shamal takes him to Hayato's room, avoiding the area where he sensed the Arcobaleno were. Placing the boy stomach down on the bed he lifts the shirt up and starts to tend to the scratches. One application of antiseptic and a few plasters later and Tsunayoshi was all fixed. Hayato had followed like a lost puppy and seemed mad at himself for allowing this to happen. Saying the boy was fine, Shamal made his hasty exit, not even saying good bye to the beautiful Boss's Wife like he usually did.

"I'm so sorry" shouts Hayato. "Is there anything I can get you?" Tsunayoshi smiles at the boy, it wasn't his fault after all.

"Can I get a drink?" he asks. Hayato nods furiously and runs out of the room. He runs towards the kitchen where the chef could get a drink for him. But what to get? A smoothie? A glass of milk? Of orange juice? Just plain water? NO! that wasn't good enough. Umm…

"Young Master Hayato looks more like Lavina every day." Hayato freezes- they were talking about him. He stops walking and flattens himself against the wall, wanting to listen in. They were always whispering about him.

"She was a temptress though, bedding the Boss even though he has a wife." Hisses the other, obviously mad at the act.

"Lavina did have a wonderful talent with the Piano, maybe she used music to lure him in?" suggests the first woman. What are they talking about?

"But after giving birth to young Master Hayato, his mother was banned from seeing him" His mother was… banned from seeing him? But wasn't his mother the woman living with them?

"Lavina was young Master Hayato's mother though, so she was allowed to teach him Piano. It was what the Boss liked about her the most after all" spits the maid. Hayato's eyes widen in shock. The Piano teacher… was… his mother?

"But didn't you hear? Hayato's mother died on the day he turned 3. It was an impossible death though. Some people are saying that Boss knocked her off so that the secret wouldn't be found out."

His mother was banned from seeing him… and then killed… by his Dad…

A fist slams against the wall and the boy goes off running back towards his room. He thrusts the doors open before running over to the Piano in the corner of his room and slamming his hands onto the keys.

"WHY!" he slams his hands down once more, the piano shouting out with him too. "Why did you have to leave me? Those looks, all of the words of hate, they are all because of you! Why did you leave me? It's all your fault." He slams his hands down once more, just not as hard. His vision is blurry from the tears. "And then you get killed." He starts to cry in earnest, head resting on the Piano keys.

Tsunayoshi was in total shock when Hayato slammed the doors open and attacked the piano. Rolling over, ignoring the pain of the wounds, he gets up and goes over to the boy, rubbing his back.

"Ne, what's wrong? Who died?" he asks carefully.

Hayato doesn't look up as he answers, tears muffling the words. "My mother was killed. First they don't even tell me that my Piano teacher is my mother and then they don't even tell me that she was killed. By my dad no less. It's all just unfair. This is why I hate adults."

Well that wasn't right. All of the adults were being very mean to Hayato. He deserved to know the truth, is what Tsunayoshi thinks, not knowing that the Arcobaleno are hiding the truth of his parents from him too.

"She left me to fend off all of these adults who hate me alone." He slams the piano once more. "I'm never going to play again. She left me so I'm going to leave her too."

Now that wasn't right in Tsunayoshi's opinion either. That feeling in his body told him that Hayato could play beautifully. So standing behind the boy, he grabs both of the boys wrists and stops him from attacking the piano anymore.

"But don't you want to remember her? She still came to see you right, during your piano lessons. She must have loved you to come all the way out here to see you. Most people wouldn't do that otherwise." Tsunayoshi can feel Hayato relax slightly. Sliding his hands, he places them atop Hayato's and rests their hands on the Piano keys. "You looked forwards to these lessons didn't you?" To have a Piano in his room, he must have, and indeed Hayato nods slightly. "You really liked your piano teacher right?"

Hayato nods once more. "She had the nicest smile you've ever seen. Her hands were so small yet they were warm and soft. I felt safe with her. I always felt happy when she was here."

Tsunayoshi smiles. "Well, there you go then. You don't want to forget her." He presses one hand down, forcing Hayato to play a chord. He moves their hands up the keys slightly before forcing another chord to sound. Hayato just lets him, too tired out emotionally to care. "So when you play the piano, do it to remember her." They play another chord before Tsunayoshi focuses on the other hand, higher up the keys and plays a scale, one finger by one finger, over and over again. "Always feel happy when you play because you were happy playing with her." Soon Hayato's hands move by themselves, playing an actual song rather than what Tsunayoshi was doing. "Don't stop playing Hayato, it sounds beautiful, just like I'm sure she was."

Hayato closes his eyes, take in a deep breath and plays the song in earnest. Tsunayoshi just stands there and watches, having withdrawn his hands when Hayato took control. The music really was amazing, he could listen to it all day.

As the song finishes, Hayato turns to Tsunayoshi. "How can you do that?" Tsunayoshi cocks his head, not understanding the question. "You come into my home, you don't even know me, yet you saved me from danger and then come in and heal my heart. How can you do that?"

Tsunayoshi gives him one of his brightest smiles. "Because I don't want to see you harmed, I don't want to see you cry. Because you are my friend and I care about you"

Little children could become friends very quickly after all.

Hayato's eyes widen once more. In a flash he's on his knees before Tsunayoshi, banging his head into the floor. "I'm not worthy of such praise. How could I become a friend to you when I put you in danger?"

Tsunayoshi laughs at Hayato's antics, finding it funny. "Please Hayato, be my friend?"

Hayato looks up, metaphorical tail wagging. He takes Tsunayoshi's hand. "Yes Tsunayoshi-sama! I'll always be your friend. I'll follow and protect you, always!"

Fon and Reborn look in at this scene and Fon smiles. "Tsunayoshi will be a good influence on Hayato: He should be able to direct the energy the boy has. Tsunayoshi will give him all the attention he needs. In return Hayato will be a very loyal friend for Tsunayoshi."

Reborn nods, face hidden under the fedora, showing nothing away. Fon couldn't tell if the Hitman was happy or mad with the new development.

"Good" says Tsunayoshi. "Now that you're my friend, I can give this to you. He runs over to the bed and picks up one of the animals there. He hadn't let go of them all day even when he protected Hayato earlier. The other was Natsu of course.

Hayato looks at the gift unbelievingly. He was getting a present too? How kind could this boy be?

The present was a small cat. It was mainly white, with yellow and brown spots like a leopard along its back and on the top of its head. There was a bright red tuft on its tail.

"I'm going to call it Uri" Hayato says. Tsunayoshi wasn't sure why but that name seemed right.

* * *

><p>At the dinner table Luce exploded once again at the two men for letting Tsunayoshi get hurt. The others all eat watching the entertainment, Reborn was one of the few people to argue back with her.<p>

When the argument seemed over, Luce spins and turns her gaze to him. She had done a personality 180 in less than half a second. Her smile at him was as sweet as always, even of it looked a little forced. Actually looking closer, it was so forced and sugary sweet that Tsunayoshi was rather scared of it. Even Verde, who he was sitting on, tensed up at that smile

"Don't worry Tsunayoshi darling. Tomorrow we are going somewhere totally safe." She informs

"Hmm, he is an interesting prodigy" says Verde, thinking about the young boy. He was nearly as interesting as Tsunayoshi was.

"Let's hope it doesn't rain then kora" says Colonnello and the others all laugh.

* * *

><p><strong>It wasn't until later in the chapter that I realised that Hayato wouldn't actually be like this. I suspect that he gets most of his gruff attitude from when he was on the streets, rather than when at home. However it could be that he's like this because he is ignored by his dad and Bianchi's mother. And sorry, but I've played with time once again, but it makes for a cute chapter. I also need this scenario to lead into the other chapter like a reviewer said, Tsunayoshi does seem to be getting older, specially in this chapter, but that because my analytical side is leaking through. I don't think his age matters all that much though. I think it's enough to know he's a young child. 4 is just a number after all.<br>**

**And cute Hayato is mine. You can all fight over Tsunayoshi and Reborn and Hibari or Mukuro or whoever, but Gokudera is mine, alright. *waves gun* good as long as you all understand, lol. **

**So who is Luce and Verde off to meet next time?**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 02 May 2012 **


	21. Under this Starry sky

Chapter 21

Under this starry sky.

**I'm messing with time once again guys. The problem with Tsunayoshi being 4 is that those younger than him aren't born yet. For example in reality Fuuta is actually 5 years younger, 9 to Tsuna's 14. So to make this chapter worthwhile, Fuuta is being born earlier, as shall I-pin and Lambo (who are coming later alright). As a result all three of them shall be 2. I hope you don't mind. **

**God, my own plot had backed me into a corner! Really, who's the author here, me or the Fic? For I have a weird feeling it's not me. **

**For those who guessed Yamamoto because of the rain thing- I both can and can't see where that came from. Obviously Yamamoto is the Rain of the Sky, yet why would they not want it to rain when he was around? Anyway, all shall be revealed. And please refrain from head-butting walls, I'd like for you to be able to read more Reborn fics, rather than be in hospital with a concussion. And just know you aren't the only one, about half the people guessed him first.**

* * *

><p>When Luce said to him last night '<em>Don't worry we are going somewhere totally safe'<em> Tsunayoshi thinks she forgot where on Earth she was living. Mafia Row was named as such since it's residents were, as the name suggested, all in the Mafia. So for starters, _Totally safe_ didn't quite apply. Admittedly, Mafia Row was the most peaceful place in the Mafia, a safe retreat for Bosses to rule from, where there was no crime. Hmm, that's not quite true… No crimes against others on Mafia row… wait no, Family fights… … … No one stole from other's houses in Mafia Row, there were no street brawls in Mafia Row, there were no deaths through violence on Mafia Row- that kind of crime, for once again, this _was_ the Mafia.

Anyway back to the point. Luce's idea of Totally safe was indeed safer than certain fedora wearing people's idea of Totally safe, but still Tsunayoshi wanted to know why Totally Safe apparently allowed buff teenagers to swing a metal ball that was as big as he was around as if swinging a tennis ball attached to a rope? For in this particular house, there indeed was a teenager swinging a huge metal ball on a chain as easily as if it weighed nothing. Tsunayoshi could quite easily guess how much that would hurt if it impacted his body. He simply wouldn't feel it for he'd be dead in an instant.

However apparently it applied as Totally Safe since the teen was using said metal ball to magically move leaves and flower petals into a pile instead of using a leaf blower or rake. Tsunayoshi didn't have a clue how it happened, but it looked awesome. He vaguely wondered what it would be like inside the tornado, looking at the swirling mess around him- scary or breath-taking? He pouts slightly as the display finishes.

"Isn't it awesome kora?" asks Colonnello, seeing the look of wonder on Tsunayoshi's face. When a look of thoughtful thinking appeared on the little one's face (Which Colonnello was afraid to admit looked scarily like Verde's thinking face) he answered the unspoken question. "He's controlling the air, or more specifically the wind" That doesn't help matters, Tsunayoshi still looks like before.

"Ne, Lancia, come over here and show Tsunayoshi your Serpent Ball" shouts Luce, seeing the teenager was done. He nods and walks over, keeping the ball as still as possible so he didn't invoke it's power. Since the ball actually weighed more than he made out, he puts it on the ground when he reaches the rest of them. He then sits down next to it since he was quite worn out from his morning chores. Tsunayoshi sits down too, fingers tracing the snake like patterns with focused interest.

"The air is forced along the tracks creating certain reactions which I use to help me" The teen known as Lancia says. He has spiky black hair and two scratches across his cheeks.

Once again seeing the confusion on the little boy's face, they decide to give up. He was only young after all.

When Tsunayoshi had first walked into the mansion and seen the man, he was immediately scared. But seeing how nice the teen infront of him was, that feeling dissipated.

Tsunayoshi is even more interested when Lancia stiffens and shoots towards the house at the sound of a child's crying.

"Lancia! Lancia! Pick up!" the voice is shrill and muffled by the tears. When the shouting stops, the other's assume that Lancia has found the child. And indeed, moments later, he comes out holding a small bundle.

"hehe, sorry about that, Fuuta doesn't like it when he wakes up without me there" the teen explains, shifting the wiggling bundle in his arms. "I thought I had longer before he woke up"

"Fuuta?" asks Tsunayoshi, pointing to the blanket in Lancia's arms.

"Yeah. If I remember correctly it's him Luce brought you to see." He says, looking up at Luce to check if he was right.

"Yes, I just wanted to see him once again. He is almost as cute as Tsunayoshi was." She says happily.

"Well let's go inside, kora. I don't want him to get cold out here" suggests Colonnello. Lancia nods and directs them towards the parlor of the mansion.

"Boss sends his regards that he can't be here to greet you." Lancia informs as he walks down the corridors. "He's dealing with a little trouble in Venice at the moment." Luce nods in understanding as Lancia holds open a door for her.

"That's alright. Tell him we said hello when he gets back" she replies before taking a seat on a sofa.

Colonnello takes a seat in an armchair at the insistence of Tsunayoshi. He would have been fine standing or leaning against a wall, but the brunet insisted. Colonnello immediately found out why when Tsunayoshi proceeds to sit on his lap. Colonnello tries to become one with the chair when Luce glares at him, miffed that Tsunayoshi hadn't sat with her. Lancia smiles at this before taking his own seat between the two to stop anymore arguments.

"Luce!" comes a shout from the blanket and two little arms appear, stretching towards the woman. Her glare instantaneously changes into a smile as she looks at the boy and offers a finger for him to hold.

"Hello Fuuta. Nice to see you." She greets.

"Luce, Luce, Luce~" the baby sings. Now sitting down, Lancia folds the blanket down so that the baby can be seen.

The boy was around 2 years old, with mouse brown hair and huge dark brown eyes. "Ahh~" sighs Tsunayoshi thinking how small and sweet the boy looked. That sigh drew the baby's eyes in his direction. They stare at each other for a few moments before the baby reaches out for him too. Tsunayoshi clambers off of Colonnello's lap and onto the sofa next to Lancia. Kneeling on the seat he looks down at the boy. Fuuta has to almost look backwards the see Tsunayoshi, but still continues to reach for him. Eventually Fuuta makes contact and grabs Tsunayoshi's nose. Tsunayoshi goes cross-eyes trying to see Fuuta's hand, before giggling.

"Has he showed any more signs?" Colonnello asks, looking at the interaction between the two boys.

Lancia looks in the man's direction before looking back at the boy and smiling. "More and more every day. In fact the more he learns how to speak, the more he does it. For Verde's notes, the gravity field is getting stronger too. He's already destroyed 5 vases through lifting them off the ground. Nor does it seem to correlate to his physical strength. At the moment, 1kg is the heaviest thing he's caused to float. He can't pick anything near that heavy up physically yet."

"What are you talking about? Is he special, to have Verde look at him?" asks Tsunayoshi, looking up at the elders around him.

Luce smiles at the boy. "Yes he is. He has the ability to rank things. He gives them an order based upon a certain question. His ability is limited by his understanding though. But an example of a question might be, Who does Tsunayoshi want to see most right now?"

Luce didn't realise that it would create a reaction in the baby. She didn't know he could understand that much. Maybe Fuuta's need to see Lancia after a nap linked to the question. Either way, Tsunayoshi was about to get a first-hand experience of Fuuta De La Stella's unique ability. The blanket Fuuta is wrapped in starts to float as does the cushions and the mugs of coffee on the table.

"Hear you… Please… Two… Verde… One… Viper" the little boy blinks and everything returns to its place. The coffee barely makes it back into its mugs.

"Alala, You want to see Viper the most at the moment?" Luce asks, looking at the boy.

Tsunayoshi looks down. "Well, yes. Viper could always understand me when everyone else couldn't. She'd be able to communicate with him better"

"Ah, just like when we first got him" says Colonnello in understanding.

Lancia looks up in confusion, he hadn't heard that before. Seeing the look, Luce turns to Tsunayoshi "We'll be eating lunch soon so why don't you and Colonnello go get washed up before joining us?" she smiles sweetly at the boy who jumps up from the sofa, excited by the prospect of lunch.

"Okay~" he grabs Colonnello's hand and pulls the man up before leading him out of the room. The baby frowns when Tsunayoshi leaves the room and reaches out for him.

"Back!" he shouts, wanting Tsunayoshi to return.

"It's like everyone says, Tsunayoshi isn't ours" she admits.

"And do you know whose he is?" Lancia asks gently, squeezing Fuuta tightly. It's not like they knew who Fuuta belonged to either.

Luce looks down and balls up her fists. Lancia thinks he can see her shaking slightly. But not in anger, in fear. "Yes we do. We'll be visiting them soon. I'm just so scared. I don't want to lose him. What if his father wants him back? What if Tsunayoshi doesn't want to stay with us? He's just such a vital part of our lives. He's changed us, and for the better too. It makes me wonder who would miss him the most if Tsunayoshi did leave."

Both gasp as things start to float once again. They couldn't believe that the two year old understood that.

"Hear you… Please… Four… Skull… Three… Verde… Two… Viper… One… Reborn"

And at that moment it starts to rain.

"Reborn?" whispers Luce, not believing the ranking the boy has come up with.

"I know, but it's raining. He's always wrong when it rains, didn't Verde confirm that."

The boy in his arms starts to cry. "Lancia. Feel bad!" he whimpers and tries to curl up more, wanting to get rid of the bad feeling. He hated the rain; it always brought on this bad feeling. He felt ever so empty inside and he hated it.

"He said it before, I'm sure. But his result. I can't believe it."

When did the rain start to fall? Was it true or not?

Later on Colonnello was shocked with the results too and decided to keep it a secret between them. Both adults had reason to smile though, since from the moment when Tsunayoshi returned, Fuuta wouldn't let go of his hand. It was a tough job to get Tsunayoshi out of the gate to the mansion without Fuuta. There was almost a scene of tug-of-war over Tsunayoshi. But eventually Nap Time came back around and Fuuta no longer had the energy to hold onto Tsunayoshi.

* * *

><p>The man in the trees gapes at the small boys before him.<p>

"But, but! He shouldn't be born yet! Not for another year yet. In fact, Hayato shouldn't have found out about his mother for another 4 years yet."

"Ah-hmm-hmm. That's the thing about parallel worlds. Everything happens at different times. If Tsunayoshi hadn't been with Hayato then, Hayato wouldn't have gone to get him a drink and found out like he did. In the case before us, all it takes is for one event to change. All it takes is for that boy's parents to go on a date that they didn't, or decide the time was right now instead of then. After all, parallel worlds pivot on change."

"You've been talking to yourself haven't you? I'm sure I had that speech before I came here." The man looks sidewards at the small boy who knew far more than he should.

"Well with you here, I might as well learn this now. Parallel worlds are **my** domain, Mr, Time Traveller."

* * *

><p>Colonnello and Lal look at the table of adults before them and Lal sighs. "Fine you can come, but promise me that you won't tear the place apart if things don't go your way. For a start Nono wouldn't be very happy and nor would I. Even if it is a part time job at the moment, I would like to keep it, as I'm sure Colonnello does. It's the only time I can get away from the COMSUBIN recruits, and quite frankly I enjoy the change of pace. I won't be able to if you destroy him and the building."<p>

When none of them answer her right away, she quickly grabs a riffle and balances it on the table, aiming directly at the rest of the group across from her. "Promise me!" she shouts. Even Colonnello who has been on the receiving end of her shouts more than anybody else fears that particular shout. It was a good thing Tsunayoshi was asleep in bed, in Verde's soundproof room. There are grudging nods from the others but none of them look at her. She can tell there were some 'crossed fingers' under the table. After all, she couldn't expect them to not fight back, it was just who they were.

* * *

><p><em>Ah, there we go, back out of the corner. Thank you Byakuran! I love light-bulb moments don't you.<em>

_The ranking about who would miss Tsuna the most if he died was suggested by **HebaAce**. I changed it slightly since I don't think a 2 year old Fuuta would understand death, so I made it more plot relevant, I hope you don't mind**. I'm giving credit for the idea to them!** I hope I did it justice. And my reasoning for the rankings… Well it was suggested that Reborn be number 1, so it was. For spot two and three, I think that both Verde and Viper would miss Tsunayoshi if he left. However I think that Verde would just revert to how he was before Tsunayoshi arrived- eg secluded in his lab- but possibly never let anyone else in again. I think Viper would find it hard to re-adjust to not having the boy around anymore, especially if she can still see him every now and again around the place. And for Skull, he wouldn't have his Knight anymore and no one to defend him. The rest, not so much. And then it rained, lol. So would he or won't Reborn miss Tsuna if he left?_

_Next time is the answer some of you have been waiting for! And I've been very good and given you two lots of clues for where we are off to next!_

_Phantom Hitman 1412_

_First Published 05 May 2012._


	22. Looking from the Outside

Chapter 22

Looking from Outside.

_Um, please don't kill me. I won't be able to write anything else if you all kill me._

* * *

><p>Okay this was weird. This was very weird. All 8 Arcobaleno were out of the house… at the same time… going to the same place… without arguing… or being forced by Luce to go. It was rare for all of them to be out at the same time, usually there was at least one person at home at any given time. The times where everyone was out was usually for a mafia conference or party. Most of the Arcobaleno hated these parties and did everything they could to get out of them. Looking after Tsunayoshi had been a good excuse. Tsunayoshi could sense eyes on him all coming from behind the protection of gates, watching to see who had incurred the wrath of the Arcobaleno, since none of them looked very happy.<p>

Colonnello opens the gate with his own key and steps aside to let everyone else in. They are greeted by a boy who is slightly older than Tsuna, about 5 years old. He has dirty blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. He seemed to be Italian. He is currently bowed infront of them before he looks up. "Welcome back Lal-dono, Colonnello-dono." He stands up fully and looks to the rest, greeting them too. "I see thou hast brought a child with thee. May thou be kindest to introduce us?" he says looking towards Colonnello.

Colonnello beckons Tsunayoshi towards him and the boy. "Basil, this is Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi, this is Basil, a friend of ours" Basil bows once more, this time in Tsunayoshi's direction.

"Is it a great pleasure to be able to finally meet with thou Tsunayoshi-dono. Colonnello-dono and Lal-dono hast talked at great length about thee. All positive comments, I assure thee." He smiles as he looks up at Tsunayoshi and the small boy smiles back.

"Yeah! It's nice to meet you too Basil. Lal says nice things about you too!" Tsunayoshi was finally able to put a face to the name. Basil blushes at the praise, surprised that the harsh woman would say anything nice about him to outsiders.

Quickly moving on to hide his blush, Basil turns to everyone else "Hast all of thee arrived for the appointment with my Master? I hast been forewarned that it was only Lal-dono and Colonnello-dono that I should have been expecting." He looks between them, confusion evident on his childish face. He was also a little in awe, for the people infront of him really were magnificent.

Lal rolls her eyes and glares at the rest of her group "Sorry for the inconvenience Basil. It was just going to be us at first, however the rest of these idiots insisted in coming along. I hope that it doesn't hinder anything?" Lal was pretty sure that nothing important was happening at CEFED HQ at the moment, hence why she had scheduled the appointment when she had.

"This is of no inconvenience at all Lal-dono. As you know CEDEF is more than equipped to handle all of thee." Replies Basil.

"What's a CEDEF?" asks Tsunayoshi to Verde, not recognising the word. Verde looks down and explains

"CEDEF stands for Consulenza Esterna Della Famiglia. This is Italian for Outside Advisors for the Family. They are part of Vongola, but separate. They help make decisions without being biased due to pressure from inside the Family."

"Um- okay then" replies Tsunayoshi, vaguely getting the concept.

"Good Morning Arcobaleno." Says a woman in the doorway. Basil turns around and smiles at her. The others all nod in greeting. "My Boss is ready to see you now" she informs.

Turning to Tsunayoshi, Basil explains "This lady is Oregano and also works in this company." Tsunayoshi waves at her and she smiles back, before turning serious once more, getting back to business. Time schedules needed to be kept to even if it was the famous Arcobaleno she was dealing with.

"If you would all kindly follow me" she says bowing, before turning away and leading the way inside. Viper takes a firm grip of Tsunayoshi's hand and leads him inside.

They go up a flight of steps and Tsunayoshi looks around at all of the people working here. It was far more people than any of the other houses had working. There was people shouting down phones, printers spitting out paper and the rigorous tapping of keys everywhere he looked. Every single person seemed to be involved in something.

But as the Arcobaleno walk past, everyone stops and looks at them. Which Tsunayoshi has come to expect- everyone always stared at them. However, instead of looking awed to see them, these office workers quickly went pale and resumed their work without making eye contact. At first Tsunayoshi thought this was weird, but then he felt the aura the others were giving out. He'd become rather tolerant of their mood swings and hadn't noticed the signs as quickly as the others had. The Arcobaleno seemed apprehensive and angry. A strange combination. Who was this man they were going to see?

As Oregano opens the door to the Boss's office, all Tsunayoshi sees is a blond muscular man with a smile on his face.

"Ahh, Lal, you're here. It's nice to see you again. I'll have a mission for you next week." He says standing up from the desk. He knew better than to greet her in any physical way such as a pat on the shoulder or even a handshake if he would like to retain the use of said hand for the rest of the week. "And the rest of you too. Hmm, I'll have to get some more chairs. Oregano, could you sort that out please?" She nods and goes to fetch some more chairs for them.

After a few minutes everyone is sat down and ready to talk. Tsunayoshi is sat on Viper's lap, which the man raises an eyebrow too.

"Oh, what a cute little boy you have there" says the man smiling at him "Almost as cute as my Na-" and he cuts himself off, looking away for a second. Tsunayoshi senses the sadness the man has and feels bad that he's the cause. But the man quickly recovers and is smiling once more. It seems to Tsunayoshi that the smile is always on his face, but it looks a little forced. "My name is Iemitsu Sawada. It's nice to meet the famed Arcobaleno Baby. Even we couldn't get any information on you" He rubs the back of his neck at that. He must be embarrassed that he couldn't. But it was the Arcobaleno he was dealing with, he hardly had any information on them. "So, little boy, what's your name" and he looks up at the others "I'm allowed to know that much right" and smiles as if sharing a joke.

"His name is Tsunayoshi" says Reborn, smirking as usual.

Iemitsu's eyes widen. He looks at the boy and gives him a through looking over. This boy looks so much like his beloved Nana. He has the same eyes, the same hair colour and even the same small delicate face that she had. He takes a look at them to see if they are joking. By carefully reading what he can see (which isn't much, they are good at hiding their emotions in general), he puts it together.

"T-Tsuna…yoshi?" he stutters quietly.

Tsunayoshi looks over the man and has a faint sense of recognition. There's a sense of hatred but also the tiniest bit of love and respect in there. These feelings he got really confused him at times.

"The age is right, the hair, the eyes" the man mumbles under his breath. He finally looks at Luce "Is he… **my **Tsunayoshi?"

Huh?... His!

Tsunayoshi cuddles closer to Viper, feeling her grip on him tighten too. He didn't have a clue who this man was and he certainly wasn't going anywhere with him. He 'belonged' to the Arcobaleno, he never wanted to leave them.

"According to our research, yes, he is." Luce quietly confirms, wanting to look away but knows she can't. But none of the Arcobaleno are ready for the expression that crosses the man's face.

For it's one of anger.

The man clenches his fists and his face turns red. He turns once more towards Tsunayoshi and goes to take a punch at the boy. But before he can move too far, Tsunayoshi and Viper have disappeared, 4 hand guns are trained on him, one syringe filled with a blue liquid is resting against his neck and his arms are being pinned to his sides from behind.

Outside the door Viper holds Tsunayoshi tightly against her chest, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Fantasma moves from his crushed position, out of the robe and nuzzles against her cheek hoping to calm his mistress down. Spotting Basil at the other end of the office she strides down there and stands next to him. Removing the illusion, she suddenly appears next to the boy, who jumps.

"Ahh, Mammon-dono, thou hast surprised me. Is there some way in which I can help thee?" Basil attempts to regain his composure, slowing his breathing from the scare. Tsunayoshi is thrust into his arms.

"Look after him and do not let him near the office. You must also keep him away from your Boss at all costs. In this case, my orders override any he may give you concerning Tsunayoshi. Do you understand?" She orders, looking sternly down at him. Even if Basil can't see her eyes he can certainly feel the glare and gulps. He's only 5 after all. He nods silently.

As she walks back towards the office, he can faintly hear his Master shouting before the door is quickly shut. Basil didn't think he'd ever heard his master shout in anger like that before. "What happened in there Tsunayoshi-dono?"

The small boy shakes his head before allowing Basil to let him go. "I don't know. One moment he's all happy, then he learns my name and suddenly he's all quiet and then he gets angry and then suddenly Viper's carried me off. I don't have a clue." Admits Tsunayoshi.

"Hmm, well then, shall we go and find some form of entertainment Tsunayoshi-dono? It is possible that they may take a very long time in their talks." Tsunayoshi nods and Basil takes the boy to his room so they can play some games.

Viper smirks as she re-enters the room for no one has moved at all. Iemitsu is in the middle of the room breathing in deeply. Reborn is pointing Leon at him; Luce, Colonnello and Lal also have guns pointed at Iemitsu. Verde has a syringe filled with some sort of poison on the man's neck, close to puncturing the skin. Fon is behind Iemitsu, pinning the man's hands down. Skull is still standing infront of her seat, since he was going to physically deflect the blow with his body. One of the bravest things she's seen the stunt man do. Her closing the door seems to be the signal for everyone to move. Reborn clicks his tongue and Leon returns to his original form first of all. The others soon follow suit, with Fon being the last.

"Get that child out of my building now. I never want to see him again!" Iemitsu growls deeply and slowly, obviously trying to control himself. The Arcobaleno share looks since they were expecting the total opposite. They were sure that they'd have to fight him to keep Tsunayoshi with them. All of them assumed that Iemitsu would want the child with him to fawn over, like he used to with Nana. But this was the total opposite.

"What has Tsunayoshi done to you?" demands Skull, standing up once more. "He hasn't done anything to deserve being punched like that!" It seems that even the wimpy stunt man could grow a backbone.

"What has he done? What has he done! He got my wife killed that's what!" The leader of CEDEF shouts, slamming a palm on the desk. But it seems that all of the energy goes out of him for he slumps in his chair and puts his hands over his face before he starts to cry. "He got my beautiful Nana killed."

"So that's why you never looked for him. You assumed that he had died with Nana. And if he had been taken by her killers, you didn't care" confirms Fon. Iemitsu nods.

"Nana was my whole world. She was so beautiful and kind and had the best cooking in the world. She was the sole light in this Mafia world I had. And I wanted to protect her from that so much. I was kind of sad when we had a child since I knew it would take up some of our time together. But she looked so happy when she had it that I couldn't object. Sure I was jealous of it. He was the cause of the argument we had too. I can never forgive him for getting Nana killed."

"Che, I know that isn't true. I was there when it happened. I put bullets into the men who did that. I know for a fact that it wasn't Tsunayoshi's fault." Replies Reborn, deceptively cool as always.

"Hmm, according to my information sources" and Viper had a very reliable information network- Information was a very good source of money. Her psychic abilities helped too " Her death is actually your fault if we are going to play the blame game"

Without sparing any sympathy for the crying man infront of her, she told everyone in the room what actually happened that night.

* * *

><p><em>That raining night over 4 years ago, Nana and Iemitsu had had an argument. She had listened to conversations she wasn't supposed to and had found out that her husband was in the Mafia, and practically was a Boss in his own right. She didn't want that kind of life, especially now with a child. Nor did she like the fact that her husband had lied to her for this long. So she had confronted him about it. They had fought for hours about their lifestyle and how the child was going to be protected, but Iemitsu couldn't come up with anything to appease his angry wife. <em>

_So, grabbing Tsunayoshi, she had run out of the house with the intention to go and stay at a friend's house. She turned down an alleyway and heard some men talking about a drug deal. She immediately turned around with the intention of escaping since she was sure that she hadn't been noticed._

_However at that point, Tsunayoshi cried out, not liking the fact he was getting wet. _

_Nana froze, hoping to high heaven that she hadn't been found out. But her luck had run out. The men sniggered and walked down the street and started to hassle her. She held the baby close to her chest hoping they wouldn't notice him. Tsunayoshi had gone silent. When one of the men started to sexually harass her, she bluntly refused the offer and tried to run past him. However she was quickly grabbed and chucked to the floor. She tried to kick her captors to escape but nothing worked. In the reflected light of streetlamps she saw the glint of a gun. Holding Tsunayoshi as tightly as she could, a rumble of thunder was the last thing she ever heard. _

_It was at that point that Reborn rounded the corner and found her dead body and her killers. And as we all know, Reborn made sure their deaths were slow and painful.  
><em>

* * *

><p>"So if anyone is to blame it is you, like I said." Finishes Viper, giving the man a venomous look. As were all of the others. He dared to blame Tsunayoshi for something that was his fault. Maybe if he was honest with Nana from the start they wouldn't have had the argument to begin with. Maybe she wouldn't have had the child and he'd feel no resentment towards Tsunayoshi for taking his Nana away from him.<p>

"Well it looks like we shall get out wish, kora" says Colonnello, smiling at the rest. "Tsunayoshi can stay as ours."

"That's right. We weren't going to hand him over to you in the first place, but if you don't want him, then that makes it easier." Adds in Verde.

Luce stands up and pulls a piece of paper out of her purse. "We'll never talk of this again. If anyone asks, Tsunayoshi isn't yours by blood. We shall make sure that you two never come into contact. We shan't tell him who you are either. Just sign this to give us legal guardianship of him and we'll be out of your office. No hard feelings. Lal can even still work here if she wants and we won't hold it against her." This was her Mafia Boss side talking. Iemitsu scrabbles for a pen and hurriedly signs the contract. He didn't want to even be related to the person who had killed the only woman he had ever loved. Luce smiles a sharp smile. "Nice doing business with you. Now, if you'll excuse us, we are going home with our son." And without looking back she leaves. The rest follow her out without even a word.

Tsunayoshi had been having a very fun time with Basil. They had played board games and video games, eaten cookies and laughed a lot. He was kind of sad when the rest arrived since he wanted to continue playing with Basil, funny accent and all. However, he did leave the Dolphin Plushie with Basil as a sign of their friendship. The boy was ecstatic with it and lost the ability to talk any modern words at all. They left the boy spluttering old fashioned words as he blushed a bright shade of red. All Tsunayoshi could make out was that Basil had decided to name the Dolphin Alfin.

Tsunayoshi didn't see the blond man as they left. From his position holding onto Skull and Fon's hands, he asks the question that had been bothering him all day "What did he mean by My Tsunayoshi?"

Tsunayoshi almost missed the tensing of the two people he was holding onto. "He got you confused with someone else. Someone who is dead. So I'd stay away from him Tsunayoshi" says Skull, smiling down at the boy.

"Oh, okay then. I will" he agrees. They had never told him to stay away from anyone before, so he'd make sure to follow their advice this time since it must be really important. He just hoped that it meant he could still see Basil.

* * *

><p>"Hey guys, do you think I should dress Tsunayoshi up tomorrow? I could dress him up in pink and black. Oh! And give him a pink wig too" jokes Luce, bouncing the boy in her lap.<p>

"Haha, Luce if you did that and he got lost, we'd never be able to find him again!" laughs Skull, the picture too clear in his head.

"Yes, that is a strange tendency of that group. I wonder where the practice came from?" asks Fon.

"I don't know. It's certainly a strange uniform choice though" muses Luce. "Anyway, it's time for your bath Tsunayoshi"

* * *

><p><strong>Like I said, please don't kill me! Iemitsu always seems more interested in Nana than Tsuna to me and this was the first idea that came into my head. Sorry for those who wanted the Arcobaleno to physically fight for Tsuna. Hopefully that answers any questions you all had. Aren't the Arcobaleno sweet though, fighting for the right to keep Tsuna. <strong>

**It's hard to do Basil's accent since whenever I put –eth onto the end of an action it looks weird. Whenever I say it in my head it makes sense and sounds fine, but it never looks good on paper, like arriveth. **

**I'm not sure when the next two chapters will be up. It's my 18 birthday on the 14****th**** so my Family are taking me away for the weekend. That means that both Friday's and Monday's chapters might not be written. If I do get them done then I'll put them up, but this is just to give you a head's up.**

**Can you guess who is next?**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 08 May 2012. **


	23. or from the Inside

Chapter 23

Or from the Inside

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes! I had a great day thanks.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: **Tsukiba** is being kind enough to translate this into FRENCH *applaudes* So any of you who prefer French to English, make sure to check it out when it's done. And I want to give a big thank you to them for offering to do so! It makes me feel really good to have someone ask. I ever realised my story was that good, lol. 

To Aquamarine Lacus: No it's not them. Thanks for reviewing!

To kisa: Douche, I like that and it does fit him actually. Tsunayoshi staying certainly is the better outcome. Well just keep on reading and you'll find out, although the answer is kind of already out there if you look for it. Thanks for reviewing too.

**Once again, thanks to HebaAce for working through this idea with me!**

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><p>When Tsunayoshi was still a baby, and they had noticed his unusual ability, the others had commented to Lal how she could train Tsunayoshi from an early age since he wouldn't know better. Little did they know, but this would apply to other things too. And one such example is allowing Luce to dress him up. He didn't know it wasn't usual for boys to allow women to dress him up. He's more worried about keeping the smile on Luce's face and making sure she was happy. And she was always very happy after dressing him up. His only complaint was that the wig was a little itchy.<p>

Reborn wondered if Luce had an ulterior motive with dressing Tsunayoshi up. Reborn himself only ever dressed up when it was necessary for a mission or to teach a lesson. He was rather adept at disguises. No one ever knew it was him. Except for Tsunayoshi. The little boy could always find him no matter what, or who, he was dressed as. But surely Luce couldn't be sending the boy on a secret spy mission? What other reason was there for him to be dressed up like that?

Lal wonders the same question as she walks down the street with the boy. Skull doesn't care, thinking that Tsunayoshi looks strangely cute in the black dress with pink frills and bows, with a huge pink bow sitting on his head. Tsunayoshi doesn't even question the dress, having caught Reborn in disguise in one once and also due to Fon's robes. Apparently there is a difference, but he doesn't see it.

The gate is opened by a woman dressed similarly to him. She smiles at them and allows them to come in. Apparently Skull is only allowed in due to his special status as an Arcobaleno. When they enter the large living room of the house, he is met by lots of women all dressed in some form of pink and black. All have pink hair and a black mask across their eyes. If that wasn't strange enough, they all have whistles on too. There are women of every age here, or as far as Tsunayoshi can tell with their masks on. There are even children as young as him here, unless some of these women are really really really small.

"We didn't think you'd bring us a new recruit, Lal-sama." Says one woman. Tsuna assumed she was the leader due to the tiara on her head.

"I'm not" growls Lal. "I'm just here to introduce you all"

The lady smiles and crouches down infront of Tsunayoshi. "We are the Cervello Organisation, a department loyal to the Vongola Boss only. It is our job to oversee and games and competitions, or situations that need to be judged. We judge fairly and are unbiased, and cannot be swayed or brought. We mainly judge small affairs, or fights between Families when they want a peaceful solution that isn't all out war. However our biggest role, and the purpose of our creation is to be able to watch over the fight to be known as the Vongola Heir when the current Boss and his outside advisor have differing opinions."

"Wow, that's a really important job then" gawps Tsunayoshi, amazed with the power they hold.

The woman laughs lightly "I'm glad you agree little one." And then she turns to Lal and Skull "And may I be introduced to this one?"

"I'm Tsunayoshi" he says, smiling brightly. As soon as the women see his cute smile, they rush over and pick him up, all wanting to hug him and ruffle his hair and tell him how adorable he is.

Lal and Skull quickly lose sight of the boy. "Ahh! I told Luce that if she dressed him up we'd lose him!" cries Skull, worried about both his own and the boy's safety. Women were quite scary when they acted like this.

"Yeah right. It doesn't matter since I'm here and I could find him before you anyway." Scoffs Lal, giving Skull a disgusted look.

Skull stomps his foot and glares at Lal. "Could not! I'd find him first. No one can beat the great Skull-sama." And he laughs, hand on hips, pretending to be the best for once.

The Cervello stop all at once and look at the arguing pair.

"You heard them Ladies. The game is set. Lal-sama VS Skull-sama. First one to find Tsunayoshi-sama wins. You shall have 5 minutes to hide the boy before the game starts. Go" The Leader claps her hands.

"Yes Rose-sama" the rest of the women chant. Then in a flurry of movement, they were all gone, leaving their Boss and the two Arcobaleno in the living room. Tsunayoshi was nowhere in sight.

Turning to the two unwilling participants of the game, Rose lays out the rules. "You both have as long as it takes to find him. He shall be hidden in plain sight. No harm will come to him since he shall be under the watch of my Family the whole time. Weapons are forbidden as is any form of violence, towards either each other or to members of my Family."

Lal and Skull just stare at her blankly, waiting for their brains to catch up. How had this turned into a game again? It made them wonder why the Cervello were so hung up on games, or at least being the umpires. Maybe they had some kind of rule or power complex? And if Luce had any part to play in this, she was dead, Boss or not.

They are shocked out of their blankness by a watch beeping. "The preparation time limit is over. You may now start the game." And she bows to them before walking off. She actually walks to her security room to watch over the proceedings through the security cameras in the house.

"Gyahaha! Just leave it to the great Skull-sama! I'll find Tsunayoshi no problem!" shouts Skull as he runs out of the door. Lal just grumbles to herself before leaving through a different exit.

* * *

><p>In the meantime, Tsunayoshi was just wondering around the house. Everything was pink and black. In places where the wall paper was black, the accessories and furniture were pink and visa versa. There were also the odd hints of purple around the place too. The place looked very comfy though, with lots of couches and loungers to sit on. The only thing was… he was lost. Not in a scary way since there were women all around the place. But he didn't know where Skull nor Lal were nor how to get back to them. So he did the logical thing and ask someone.<p>

"Um, excuse me" he says pulling on one of the ladies' skirts. She looks down at him and smiles before crouching down to be on his level.

"How can I help you Tsunayoshi-sama?" she asks gently and respectfully. He blushes since he'd never been called –sama before. Apart from by Hayato. But it sounded weird coming from an adult.

"I was wondering how to get back to Skull and Lal. I'm kind of lost." He admits, looking like he was about to cry.

The Cervello lady awws at this. "Didn't you know? We are playing a game of hide and seek. Lal-sama and Skull-sama are having a competition to see who can find you first." Tsunayoshi's eyes open wide, any hint of tears completely gone.

"Really! Oh, so I'd better hide then." He starts looking around himself frantically, looking for a hiding spot.

The lady giggles and ruffles his hair, amazed with the sudden transformation. "There is no need to. You must hide in plain sight. Think of it more as a game of tag okay."

"Oh. Alright then! Thank you!" he smiles and waves as he starts to run off.

* * *

><p>Lal was not having as much fun as Tsunayoshi was. When she had turned down a corridor, at the far end was a group of children, all about Tsunayoshi's age and height- the brat was small for his age. So when she'd called out to them, hoping Tsunayoshi would answer her, they all screamed and ran in two different directions. They didn't like Lal's shout of "Oi, brat, get your ass here now before I shoot you down" but to be honest, what 4 year old would? Only Tsunayoshi would.<p>

So now she was chasing a load of loud screaming children around the house. She was getting angrier and angrier by the second. How her fingers itched for her gun.

Skull? He wasn't having as much fun as Tsunayoshi was either. As he was walking along, a group of Cervello had invited him for a cup of tea. They had looked rather aggressive, especially with those masks, so he had had no choice but to accept. Admittedly they had great snacks though. So here he was having a rather awkward conversation over mugs of tea. He was trying desperately to find a way to excuse himself so he could continue trying to find Tsunayoshi.

But he's just too polite for his own good.

Back with Lal, she had decided to try a different tactic. "Ladies Halt!" It was her best army voice, capable of bringing grown angry men to a stop. The girls had no choice but to stop. "Line up" They quickly got into a line and stood, hands behind their backs, feet apart, looking straight forwards. She would commend these young girls, they had done it better than some of her new recruits had. She walks infront of them to see if any of them are Tsunayoshi. None of them were. "Follow me" she growls, angry that she now had to retrace her steps and find the other group of children.

None of the Adult Cervello were going to tell Lal how much like a mother duck with her ducklings trailing behind her she looked as she prowled through the mansion. There was nothing wrong with photographing it and using it as compliance blackmail later though.

Just as she was walking past a corridor, she heard a rather distinctive "Heeii". Quickly backtracking, she just saw the trail of two ribbons going around a corner. Tsunayoshi's dress had had ribbons on the back side, clinching the waist in. She took off at a run, determined to catch the brat. Her trail of young Cervello giggle and laugh, before running after her.

Skull sighs as he finally manages to escape the Tea Party from Hell. He was sure Lal had found Tsunayoshi by now and had most likely left the house already, leaving him behind. And weren't the Cervello supposed to be unbiased. Just because he was a man didn't mean they could be biased towards him. Really, was there some sign on him that said Hate Me or Bully Me?

"Wah, Skull don't cry!" says a voice.

"But it's so unfair Tsunayoshi!" he cries, before picking the owner of the voice up and crying into their shoulder.

Wait… Tsunayoshi?

"And the winner is Skull-sama!" announces Rose, who has just appeared from nowhere- the Cervello had the uncanny ability to do that.

Just as Lal rounds the corner with her followers.

"I… I… won?" Asks Skull. He'd never won anything when it came to the Mafia and the Arcobaleno. The only thing he'd ever won was awards for his stunts. He'd never won an actual game before.

"Yeah Skull you did! Congratulations!" shouts Tsunayoshi, hugging him before patting him on the head.

Lal stands where she stopped and fumes away. Her followers quickly step away, as do any adults in her vicinity.

"Gyahaha! Of course I won. I am the great Skull-sama after all!" gloats Skull, standing tall and proud, imaginary flames burning behind him.

Lal turns around and stomps out of the building.

"Ehh, I think it's time we went home." Thinks Tsunayoshi nervously. Skull agrees with him. He needed to tell the others that he'd won for once.

As the Cervello gather back in the entrance way, waving goodbye to their cute guest, Tsunayoshi clambers down from Skull and worms his way through the crowd. Eventually finding the person he wants, he smiles at her "Thank you for telling me the rules". The Cervello around him gasp and whisper in shock. No one could ever tell them apart. Most of them had even changed outfits to make the chase harder too.

The Cervello in question absolutely beams at him. "It was my honour Tsunayoshi-sama. Make sure to call upon us if you need us okay? We've love to rule over any game you may play."

* * *

><p>All the way home, Skull was singing a little chant of "I won!". And it wasn't all that quiet either.<p>

Bursting into the living room where all of the others were Skull shouts "Bow down before the great Skull-sama. I have won a game!" Luce smiled at him as did Fon. Verde looked like he didn't believe a word of what Skull was saying. Viper was looking very happy, extremely happy, as she held out her hand.

"Hehe, Pay up!" Of course they had made a bet on who would win. Luce had asked the Cervello to arrange the game for her, thinking that Lal needed to loosen up a bit and have some fun. Of course she had chosen Skull, a male, to go against Lal since she thought Lal would win. Amazingly, Luce was wrong for once. As was everyone else accept Viper.

"Eh, you were betting on us?" asks Skull, offended.

"Of course we were. And you've just won me a hell of a lot of money." They could tell Viper was happy since she kept letting out a little witch's cackle every now and again. A laugh that only occurred when she was around a vast sum of money.

"How did you know Skull was going to win?" Tsunayoshi asks. He had run into Skull by accident when he was running away from Lal. He hadn't planned on making anyone win, but when he had seen Skull nearly in tears, he just had to stop and help.

"I just know you better than the other's that's all" says Viper.

"Oi, I demand a share of the money. I won after all. I should get a prise! And Luce, you should make a feast tonight in my honour. And Reborn you should bow at my feet and apologise for all of the harsh comments you've made." Everyone had of course tuned the Lackey out by now, more interested in mourning the amount of money that they had to hand over to Viper.

"1 Point for me!" Skull shouts. Of course that 1 didn't make a dent in all of the other times the others had 1-upped him, but he was still proud of having a number greater than 0.

"Would you shut up!" shouts Lal. She kicked down the door leading into the hallway and shoots Skull with the humungous riffle she had in her hands. It was a good thing that Tsunayoshi had gone to sit on Viper as soon as he had returned home, or else he would have been a burnt crisp by now. Dropping the riffle (Which Colonnello is quick to catch before it hits the floor), she stamps over to Skull, grabs his shirt and proceeds to slap the hell out of the stuntman, her slaps emphasising her words. " You only won because I was chasing the brat and he accidentally ran in your direction!"

The others all roll their eyes- that made a lot more sense now.

Viper, determined to prove her argument that she knew Tsunayoshi better than the others, points out "But he could have just ran past Skull or jumped out of the way. Fon's taught him enough self-defence for him to get out if he wanted too. Tsunayoshi decided to let Skull catch him. Let me guess, Skull was crying right?" she looks down at the little boy on her lap.

"Yeah he was. I was running away from Lal and I found him crying so I checked up on him. He hugged me to make himself feel better"

Viper smiles smugly "I rest my case." The others are now racking their brains to think why they didn't consider that situation.

They don't think for long, though, since they are too busy laughing at Skull, who is still being slapped by Lal. And they knew from experience- Colonnello especially- that Lal could continue slapping for a very long time.

"Che, you deserve that for gloating Lackey" remarks Reborn. It surely was Karma giving Skull his comeuppance for all of the gloating he had done.

Lal stops slapping Skull, feeling that he's not worth wasting anymore of her time. Skull collapses into a pile of the floor. "It's not fair. You can't hit me when I was the only one to find Tsunayoshi" Skull grumbles. Reborn pushes off against the wall he was leaning against and goes to stand over the pathetic mess on the floor.

"What did you say?" he reaches for Leon, who auto automatically knows to change into a gun. He aims, and would shoot, if Tsunayoshi was not standing between Skull and Leon, arms spread wide.

"No. Bad Reborn!" states Tsunayoshi. "I'm Skull's knight, and I say you can't hurt him anymore. You have to go through me first!" Of course there was nothing stopping Reborn from picking the child up and throwing him to one of the others before shooting Skull, but Reborn didn't do that. Instead, he just lowers his fedora and walks away. Tsunayoshi turns around and kneels next to Skull. "Are you alright?" he asks

Skull looks up, tears of joy in his eyes "Yes, Thank you Tsunayoshi!" Maybe he could survive living here if Tsunayoshi stayed.

* * *

><p>The man in the trees had watched the chaos inside the Cervello House and starts to wonder about these women. His experience with them wasn't the best, nor has it gotten better in recent years.<p>

"A friend of mine once asked me why these women were involved in a certain conflict involving the Tri-ni-set. It most likely didn't help that they were with the enemy rather than with Vongola. What he doesn't know, is that before Decimo's disappearance, Byakuran and Decimo had a meeting with them. It was his first meeting with Byakuran actually, the one in which he was 'killed'. The way Byakuran worded himself, as childish as he, er you are, made it sound as if they were going to play a game: if he collected the Tri-Ni-Set then he won, if Decimo defeated him then Decimo won. God knows how, but these women appeared at that time and claimed that they were going to judge this game. Both of them agreed that they would rather have the Cervello oversee this than the Vindiche. So they did. And with him gone, they went to the next person involved. Irie Shoichi. Who technically is Vongola. It does make me wonder why the Vindiche didn't get involved with that incident…"

The white haired boy couldn't answer that question since he didn't know what went through the minds of the Vindiche any better than the man next to him did.

* * *

><p>"Now Luce, I forbid you to dress Tsunayoshi up to fit in with the next Family." States Reborn.<p>

Luce gives him a disgusted look "Of course I wouldn't Reborn. For a start, Tsunayoshi is too young to get piercings like that. Secondly, the punk look does not suit him at all. He's too cute for it."

The rest agree and just hope that Tsunayoshi doesn't ask for one when he comes back from the next Family. That boy was the last person Tsunayoshi needed as a role model.

* * *

><p><strong>So I hoped you enjoyed the visit to this small, yet commonly featured, Family. <strong>

**Join me Next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 17 May 2012 **


	24. You'll find that Friends

Chapter 24

You'll find that friends

**Anyone who has only seen the anime and not read the manga won't actually know who this Family is, since they were so unpopular they were cut out. And whilst that may have given it away, I'm sure most of you had already guessed it. If you are interested, he's in chapters 44-47 inclusive. Now I've never written him, nor a character like him before, nor am I anything like this man, so I'm not sure how this will turn out.**

* * *

><p>At Breakfast, Tsunayoshi looks around the table and smiles at how everyone is getting along. Not a lot has really changed, not that he can remember all that far back. Verde is still scribbling notes with one hand whilst eating toast with the other. Colonnello and Lal are flirting arguing- you can never tell with those two. Viper is, as usual, upstairs asleep. She doesn't like to be up early if she doesn't have to be. Skull is trying to attract attention and avoid Reborn's killer glare at the same time. Reborn is trying to ignore everyone around him but ends up snapping at Skull when the stuntman gets too loud and obnoxious. Luce and Fon just stare on, both with a simple smile on their faces, watching the others whilst holding their own conversation. Tsunayoshi looks down at his drawing of the scene, with everyone drawn in the colours he thinks represents them. Not that he'd tell them that, yellow wasn't exactly a colour to describe Reborn after all. But he still felt like it was the right colour for him. It wasn't until then, with it all drawn out that he realised he's drawn using a rainbow of colours- Viper was included in the picture, he had just imagined what she'd be doing, most likely counting the money she had won from last night. He was in the picture too, coloured the same orange Luce was. It wasn't due to his admiration of her, he did admire her though, but he just felt like it was the right colour for him. And looking down at the pack of crayons, he remembered something that had been bugging him for a while now.

He was snapped out of his contemplation by Skull. "Come on Tsunayoshi, it's time to get dressed for today." Skull seemed quite happy today for some reason. Maybe he liked this Family too? Fon stands up too and smiles at them.

"Don't worry Skull, I'll get him dressed, why don't you finish up breakfast first?" Skull couldn't exactly argue, since in his haste to leave already (which had nothing to do with getting away from Reborn's glare… honest) that he had left half of his breakfast unfinished, whilst Fon had eaten all of his and even washed his plates up. So in defeat Skull sits back down. Luce smiles at them before looking back to Fon.

"Everything you need is in your room." She then looks at Tsunayoshi, a tiny bit of worry in her eyes. Although it seemed normal motherly worry than Mafia Mother worry, which was always a good sign. It was the type of worry that meant she thought he was going to fall over, or get wet, or something else non-lethal. So whilst confusing the little boy, he didn't worry and just followed Fon up the stairs.

When upstairs and in Fon's room, Tsunayoshi stands in his underwear before Fon hands him something he's never seen before. No wait, he has worn this before, when he went to the Varia. "This is really lightweight body armour Tsunayoshi and it should stop you from getting hurt if something goes wrong where we are going." Fon explains.

Tsunayoshi tilts his head and looks up at the older man. "What are you expecting to go wrong?" he asks. He's not really worried for he can feel that Fon isn't worried either.

"Well this Family isn't exactly a family as such. They fight a lot, often with guns. We just want to make sure that you are protected in case they start another family fight, that's all. Of course me and Skull shall be there to protect you the whole time anyway. But you know Luce" and here Tsunayoshi rolls his eyes "She's just being protective as usual."

Luce knew how to take protection to extremes. She has even wrapped him up in cotton wool when he was first learning to walk so it didn't hurt as much when he fell. In actuality, it doesn't work very well. You need so much cotton wool for that to work that Tsunayoshi could have easily joined a field of sheep and not look any different. Reborn took protection in a different slightly more creepier extreme with stalking and shooting. Tsunayoshi wasn't sure which he was more scared of. Although scared wasn't the right word for it. Like everything else, he saw it as natural and not weird or creepy at all. It was everyone else that saw it as such.

So with this hard material against his chest and back, Tsunayoshi felt like a super hero in their suit, or maybe a Power Ranger. On top of that went a normal pair of jeans and a t-shirt, as well as a jumper. It was a good thing the island had moved into a colder climate recently, or else Tsunayoshi would have been overheating. He peaks into Viper's room, dodges the customary Mist knife (apparently it was an instinctual reaction so he took no offence to it) and said his goodbye. He received a half-hearted goodbye and a pathetic attempt at a wave before she rolled over and went back to sleep. He follows Fon downstairs, meets back up with Skull and says goodbye to everyone else.

They walk down Mafia Row and end up at the house next to CEDEF HQ. Tsunayoshi stares at the gate and wonders if the nails are supposed to be half hanging out of the gate, and whether that huge padlock actually works or not. Skull knocks on the gate, helmet left at home for once. The gate slowly opens and Tsunayoshi can see why Luce wanted him to be safe; there were bullet holes everywhere, a few dynamite explosions and even the odd gun and riffle laying about the place.

In front of him is a boy that looks to be the same age as him. He has on a leather jacket with lots of metal studs on it, chains hanging off his belt and lots of safety pins attached to his t-shirt. His hair was in large spikes, obviously gelled like that. He even had a few piercings, although only on his ears. He looked like a more extreme version of Skull. Both wore leather and had piercings after all. The chains reminded Tsunayoshi of Gokudera slightly, but Gokudera certainly wore them more… tastefully.

"Hey, it's Skull-ull-ull! Back from Hell again?" Tsunayoshi looks at the boy weirdly, wondering what type of greeting that was. His house certainly wasn't Hell thank you very much.

Skull however laughs. "Haha! Of course. Ever the Reaper didn't want me after I rode over 5 rings of fire backwards. I must be too awesome for him!" And Skull gives the boy a Rock sign with his pinkie and index fingers. Tsunayoshi finally gets what the boy meant now, he was talking about Skull's job.

"Who are you?" Tsunayoshi asks. The others hadn't told him who he would be meeting.

The boy takes a step backwards and holds a hand towards Tsunayoshi is a stop gesture. "Whoa, peace peace! Don't get cha panties in a twist. I'm Naito Longchamp, soon to be the 8th Boss of the Tomaso Family."

Well, this boy was certainly… flamboyant. Tsunayoshi extends a hand and smiles at the boy. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Tsunayoshi"

"Tsunayoshi-chan! It's cool to meet cha too. Any friend of Skull's a friend of mine. He's like the most awesome guy I know, right." Naito says, giving a really big grin. Instead of shaking Tsunayoshi's hand like the boy expected, he slapped it a few times in some kind of secret handshake. Tsunayoshi followed along as best as he could. Skull performed it perfectly soon after though, as did Fon when the boy said hello to him.

"And who is that behind you?" asks Fon, looking over the boy's head. Naito takes a step backwards and smiles at that person, before raising his arms in a presenting gesture.

"Haha, glad you asked. This is my girlfriend, Tianna." The … girl, looks down and blushes before giving Naito a push against the shoulder. Tsunayoshi's eyes widen however, when that seemingly gentle push of embarrassment actually sends the poor boy flying into the wall a good 5 metres away. The girl had a mass of curly red hair that looked like a gathering of snakes, along with a tiny nose and a huge chin. She looked thinner than a rake, and Tsunayoshi could easily see some of her bones. How she had the strength to send Naito flying like that no one knew.

Said boy stands up from where he had landed, wipes the dust off, places a plaster on his cheek and skips back to where they are. "Ah, gawd, you are just too beautiful for your own good ya' know that. Just lookin' at cha blows me away." Looking over the girl who looked even scarier than Medusa, Tsunayoshi sure hopes the phrase _Beauty is only skin deep_ actually works and something Naito believes in. Naito turns to them and starts waving in the direction of his house. "Come on, come on, let's go inside." And he walks away.

Tsunayoshi sticks close to Fon as they walk through the garden. Whilst Naito might be different from what Tsunayoshi was used to, he could see that Naito loved life and was rather enthusiastic about everything. It was as if he didn't let anything faze him, and kept on going regardless, which Tsunayoshi found admirable. Tsunayoshi was wondering first what a girlfriend was, since he assumed there was some reason for stating that she was a girl rather than just a friend. It had sounded like one word rather than two. He'd have to ask Verde later.

As they are half way across, Fon sighs and picks Tsunayoshi up. "Really, this Family need to sort themselves out. Maybe some meditation would do them some good" Just as he's about to ask what Fon meant, Tsunayoshi hears the sound of arguing. A few moments later, he also hears the sounds of bullets, and finally notices that they are in the middle of a battlefield. Fon just continues on walking, jumping over bullets and bending out of their way as needed. It almost looked like a graceful slow dance. Needless to say, both made it across unharmed. Skull on the other hand had stood in the middle, hand on hips and laughed at them.

"I am the immortal Skull, feared by the Reaper himself. You're bullets can't harm me!" and he laughs his gloating laugh. Until, that it, a bullet grazes his leg. At that point, he yelps like a spanked puppy and runs like a headless chicken, hands in the air and screaming his head off. Fon sighs at Skull's actions whilst Tsunayoshi just laughs, assuming Skull is acting for him.

When Naito hears Skull's scream he looks backwards and laughs it off. "Seems like we are having some internal disputes, or that's what my Dad calls it at least. It's nothing to worry about." Tsunayoshi wasn't too sure about that. Even in his house, the Arcobaleno didn't try to kill each other… too often.

Once in the safety of the house, they sit down in the living room, where a few others are present. Tsunayoshi notices that a different girl is sitting next to Naito. "So who are these people?" Tsunayoshi asks, moving his gaze from the new girl to three people standing back to back on the other side of the room. One was wearing headphones and seemed slightly older than them. The one in the middle was an adult, wearing a butler's outfit and finally on the left was a girl, again older, who was wearing a Lolita black frilly dress, her hair covering her eyes.

"Hm, oh them. They are my Family. Starting from the right: Lunga, Mangusta and Pantera. Although they're a bit weird in the head" he smiles as if that was a compliment, accompanied by another weird hand gesture that Tsunayoshi had never seen before. The girl, Pantera, looks at Naito and the girl sitting next to him, and pulls out a pinwheel. Naito freezes, putting his hands up defensively. "Whoa, whoa, peace peace. You ain't drawing your weapon here are ya Pantera? That's not nice to our guests. They ain't even done anythin' yet."

The girl takes aim and throws the pinwheel, which to Tsunayoshi doesn't look dangerous at all. He is soon corrected as Naito dodges, and the pinwheel chops off the shoulder of his jacket and embeds itself like a dart into the wall. More follow the first, and Naito dodges them all easily. "Hah, you have such bad aim, silly. They are over there you know." And he points in Skull's direction. However Pantera doesn't change her aim. After a few dart pinwheels are thrown she stops and resumes looking back at the floor.

"And what about the girl sitting next to you?" asks Tsunayoshi. She hadn't been hit by the pinwheels either.

Naito puts an arm around her shoulders. "Oh this? She's Fierra, my girlfriend." Tsunayoshi couldn't see her face since it was covered by her black hair. She was wearing a velvet cloak that covered her body too. She raises a hand and waves at them, and releases some weird clicking noises, which apparently are a greeting.

"Haha, I love it when you do that. It's so cute that I leave you breathless!" Naito says beaming at the girl.

Fon looks down at the boy, one eyebrow raised. "But what about that girl who was at the gate? Wasn't she your girlfriend?" he enquires.

"What Tianna? Naw, we broke up ages ago." Naito explains, seemingly unfazed by the break up. "Hey, Fierra, could you go get us some tea?" The girl clicks some more before leaving the room. "So what should we do? Play a game maybe?" he asks, bouncing on the spot

"Um, shouldn't we wait for her to return?" asks Tsunayoshi, looking towards the door the girl left through.

"What's this? Someone refusing to play with Longchamp-kun? I'll soon change that!" It was the butler, Mangusta, who had spoken. Out of his jacket he had pulled out a handgun and aimed it at Naito. Tsunayoshi jumps forwards to save the boy, only to be held back by Fon. The bullet was shot, although it glows weirdly. Naito was hit in the forehead and fell backwards onto the floor. A zip appeared along Naito's torso. It unzipped and out came Naito, only in his underwear, a small crying person coming out of his forehead. Naito himself was crying too.

"My past has been complete darkness. My future shall be complete darkness." He says before sniffing. "Since my Family are always fighting all of the time, I've never played a game with anyone. No one else would play with me since they think I'm annoying. I've never had a chance to win a game before. Even when I play against myself, I always beat me."

Suddenly Tsunayoshi felt really sad for the boy. Skull was crying buckets of tears.

"Naito!" Skull cries.

"Skull" Cries Naito.

And the two run towards each other and hug, crying together.

Ignoring the melodrama in the corner, Tsunayoshi looks up at Fon who seems unfazed by the pitiful confession of the boy. He just had a sad smile on his face, and his eyes flicked to the outside where the battle could still be heard. Seeing Fon's lack of reaction, he is also reminded of what the others would have done. They wouldn't have sat and consoled the poor boy, they would have gone and sorted out the problem. Or in Reborn's case, forced the boy to deal with his own problem.

"Naito, it's time you played with your Family. You should go out there and stop the fighting between them" Demands Tsunayoshi, standing up and stamping a foot. Then he smiles. "And playing a game could bring them together. Come on I'll help you."

"Ahh, gee wiz, Tsunayoshi-chan, that'd be awesome." Shouts Naito before leaving Skull and running out of the door. Tsunayoshi gasps and follows the boy to see what he has in mind.

Naito's plan, however, seems to consist of running into the middle of the battlefield and shouting at his men. "Hey now, peace peace guys. Ya all gotta stop fighting. It's not good to fight you know. How about we stop and play a game instead?"

"Yeah and we'd crush your wimpy asses any day" shouts a man on the left.

"Ha, you wish. We'd beat you with our eyes closed, no matter the game"

And the battle started once more.

Tsunayoshi starts to panic realising Naito is right in the middle and apparently too stupid to notice. However just as he was about to risk it and go save Naito, a flash of pink runs past him. Or maybe rolls is a better description. Another girl, this one built like a boulder stands infront of Naito, hands spread wide as if defending him. One bullet scrapes the girls shoulder and she shouts out before falling to the floor.

"Now guys that ain't fair. Ya know we don't go attacking girls, no matter how beautiful they may be. And especially if they are my Girlfriend. So stop fighting and apologise to her" he shouts, looking down at all of his men. They all stop, since it's Mafia code not to hurt a woman.

Fon takes this moment to step onto the still battlefield and attempt to talk peace to the feuding Family. "There are better ways to argue and settle scores. How about playing a game like football. That way no bystanders get hurt and there are rules to define the winner fairly." He had gotten the idea from the stray ball he could see in a pile of debris.

Mangusta looks at both sides of the mini war and decided that Fon's advice isn't being taken well. So to try and save the situation he pulls out his gun and shoots at Fon. The man though, turns and chops the bullet, making it land on the floor, him untouched "The Desolation bullet is useless to use against me I'm afraid." He says.

"The desolation bullet?" asks Tsunayoshi. He had wondered what the shining bullet from before was.

"Yes Tsunayoshi. When shot with it, it forces out the saddest side of you there is. You end up saying something really gloomy that makes everyone around you sympathise and pity you. As a result they are more inclined to do as you say." So that's why he'd felt so bad before, thinks Tsunayoshi.

Tsunayoshi turns to the men around him and gives them a glare. Most of the men freeze, not realising a small child could give such a scary look. As usual it was subconscious and an amalgamation of what he had seen from the others on a near daily basis. Skull remembers it as similar to the one he had given in the Shimon house, but this one was less powerful. Naito's Family's situation was less important that Natsu being abused it seems. "You all should be good and play together!" he shouts. "Families play with each other and smile with each other and like being with each other. And I don't see that. Shouldn't you be having fun rather than trying to kill each other?" Family was rather important to Tsunayoshi, and he always tried to keep the peace. It made him sad when the others fought, and it seems like it made Naito sad too.

Speechless, the Tomaso men have no choice but to follow the wishes of the little boy. Him being with two Arcobaleno helped somewhat. So the ball is rescued from its home in the trash and a game of football is started. Naito looks very happy with the situation. Fon decides it's time to go home now. So dodging footballs that are flying faster than they should be, they make their way to the exit. Tsunayoshi waves goodbye to Naito who is too busy playing to come and give them a proper send off.

* * *

><p>Later than night, as they are settling down for dinner, Tsunayoshi asks who he's going to see next.<p>

"Ahaha, Tsunayoshi you have the pleasure of going with the great Skull-sama once more" shouts Skull.

Tsunayoshi looks confused. "I'm going with Skull again?" he asks. Seeing Skull's dejected look he hurries to say "Not that I mind, but I've gone with him quite a lot recently."

Reborn lowers his fedora before saying gruffly "I want him out of the house. Recently he's been too loud"

"Destroyed my experiment"

"Disturbed my sleep"

"Interrupted my practice."

"He made a good target though"

"Disturbed my meditation"

"Ruined my cooking"

The rest admit, all looking towards the culprit.

"Haha…" he laughs nervously "oops?" he ducks his head and raises his shoulders.

"We are going to visit the Family that own the biggest Gambling ring in the world. I'll be coming to translate for you. I'll make sure-" Viper states

"-To add it to my tab, I know" laughs Tsunayoshi. Being part of the Varia, she had to know at least 7 languages.

"And these people come from a culture that loves Stuntmen" gleefully informs Skull, perking right back up again. "I've done a whole lot of shows there."

"Really. I can't wait to meet them then." Smiles Tsunayoshi, glad that someone loves Skull.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Extra:<span>**

As Tsunayoshi was sitting at the table eating dinner, he was reminded of his earlier question that he had been meaning to ask Verde.

"Ne, Verde. What's a girlfriend? Can I have one?" he asks cutely, tilting his head as he usually does when he's asking a question.

A few jaws drop around the table, and glares are sent in Skull's direction since he had suggested visiting that Family. Luce didn't seem very happy with his question. Had he said something wrong?

Colonnello laughs. "Good One Tsunayoshi. A girlfriend is a girl that you feel really close to and would like to live the rest of your life with."

"So is Lal your Girlfriend?" Tsunayoshi asks, making sure he's understood correctly. There is muffled laughter from some of the others. Reborn just laughs outright at the look on Lal's face. She has gone rather red and is looking downwards. She is also shaking.

Colonnello smiles. "Yeah, I would like to think so. She'd make the best girlfriend in the world". Already knowing the consequences of his words, Colonnello pushed the chair back as soon as he answered, getting ready to run. For Lal hadn't been looking down in embarrassment (She had really, she just wouldn't admit it). She had been looking down to control her anger. With Colonnello's answer, she shot up and went to punch him in the face, narrowly missing. Both left the room, Lal chasing her worthless student, who was laughing the whole time, not apologetic at all.

"So are Luce and Lal and Viper my girlfriends? I'd want to live with you guys forever!" he laughs smiling brightly at them all.

"Smooth kid, smooth" chuckles Reborn, watching the faces of the other two girls present in the room.

Luce smiles sweetly at him "I'm honoured Tsunayoshi, but I'm already taken" That was obvious considering she had given birth to Aria.

However no one could see what Viper's reaction was. She just hid further under her hood.

* * *

><p><strong>And there we are, one Tomaso Family. That was harder than I thought it was going to be. <strong>

**That little crying bit in the middle with Skull and Longchamp was inspired by the bit in Soul Eater where Soul and Black Star do it and Death the KID shoots them. It was really funny.  
><strong>

**Good luck guessing who the next lot are, it's hard not to give them away. And god knows what I'm going to write for them. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 20 May 2012 **


	25. From all over the World

Chapter 25

From all over the world.

**It's time to reveal who this mysterious Family is that no one guessed. To be honest though, I wasn't expecting many people to guess this one. **

**Those of you who like the Purple Pairing, aka Viper and Skull, should be happy with this one. I call them that since Skull's Cloud Purple and Viper is Mist Indigo, which are both well… purple. However, as you all know, I don't do pairings in this fic, so read as deep into it as you like.**

* * *

><p>"Viiiipeeeerrrr. What's taking Skull so long?" Whines Tsunayoshi impatiently. Skull had disappeared after breakfast saying he'd be with them in a moment. That was half an hour ago.<p>

"One moment, I'll get him." Says Viper, she didn't like to be late for appointments. It was a waste of time and money. Closing her eyes, she concentrates.

Tsunayoshi wonders what she's doing. He is answered by Skull's terrified scream, a scream that is followed by the roar of a motorbike. Skull comes careening around the corner of the house, crying his head off and screaming the whole time. He drives past Tsunayoshi and Viper and straight out of the gate.

Viper looks down at the boy, a malicious smile on her face. "There we go Tsunayoshi. We won't be late now" for Viper really really hated being late.

"Viper!" pouts Tsunayoshi "What did you do to Skull?" he demands, stamping a foot on the floor. She just answers with another smile and a wave of her fingers. Tsunayoshi sighs and runs after Skull.

After nearly tripping a few times, he catches up to Skull who has stopped outside of a new gate. Skull was panting and wiping away his tears, making himself presentable once again.

"Damn that witch." He pants, catching his breath after all of that screaming. "And she's the nice one too"

"Since we have arrived on time I won't charge you for that insult" remarks Viper, casually walking up to where they are. Skull actually wondered why Viper was here. Even though she had told Tsunayoshi she was here to translate, that wasn't actually true. Everyone on the island spoke Italian since it was the language of the Mafia. It was no different for these people. Even though they came from a different country, they still knew Italian so Tsunayoshi would have no problems communicating. It would have been hard for this Family to negotiate anything if they didn't speak Italian.

Viper knocks on the door and it is quickly opened. The man takes a look at who is there before leaning backwards to shout down the garden. "Yo, Boss. Miss Mammon and Skull from Hell and some brat" Viper and Skull practically growl, and even if he can't see either of their eyes through their hood/ helmet, he knew he was being glared at, so he quickly amends himself "er child are here." Tsunayoshi doesn't have a clue what is going on since he doesn't understand the language. All he got were the words Mammon and Skull. The guard must have said something wrong since Tsunayoshi felt them become tense and angry for a moment.

"What? Skull is here? Well then let them in!" comes a voice from behind the door. The guard opens the door wider and admits the three guests.

From across the lawn, a man stands up from where he was sat at a table with some others. The sun glints off of his gold jewellery. He is quite a large man, obviously well fed, with short hair cut into an interesting stripes. "How nice of you to join me today." He exclaims. "Would you like to sit and play a game with us?" He lifts an arm to show his full hand of cards and then gestures to the table he and others were sitting at.

Viper's eyes light up at the prospect of winning more money. And these people knew how to gamble. She could get a _whole lot_ of money off of them. "Sure" she says normally, hiding her excitement. She walks over to the table, Skull following and takes the offered seat. Skull sits next to her and Tsunayoshi sits on Skull.

"So then boy, who are ya?" the Boss asks. Tsunayoshi stares blankly back, understanding that the man was talking to him, but having no idea what was said.

Skull laughs in embarrassment. "Sorry, he only speaks Italian." The Boss nods, slightly expecting that since the child was so young.

So changing languages he asks his question again. "So boy, who are you?"

Tsunayoshi perks up, finally being able to understand something. Smiling at the men around him he says "Hello, my name is Tsunayoshi. Nice to meet you" the men are taken aback by the intensity of the smile and soon everyone is smiling with him.

"Tsunayoshi eh. Well, I am the Boss of the Nuevo Family from America. You can call me Frankie." Says the Boss.

"Shall we start the game?" asks Viper, eager to win her money. For Tsunayoshi's sake, everyone had switched to Italian.

"A game? What game are we playing this time?" Tsunayoshi asks. He'd never played a game with cards before.

The Boss laughs. "I'm sorry boy, but you are a little too young to play this game. But how about this, ya can hold the cards for my man Skull alright" Tsunayoshi nods.

Viper turns and explains to Tsunayoshi. "We are about to do something called gambling. It's a little like betting only you are betting on yourself instead. Nuevo are the holders of the Largest Gambling Ring in the world. They control all of Las Vegas as well as all of the casinos in their home town of New York. They own most of the casinos and gambling businesses in-between the two places too. However by law you have to be an adult to gamble since money changes hands. The exact age changes depending on what country you are in."

She didn't mention that there were no laws here on Mafia Row, so he could technically play. But she didn't want to have to spend the time she could be making money, teaching him. Plus, she needed him for something else anyway.

Now betting Tsunayoshi understood. Viper did it all the time and seemed to get a lot of money from it. And since the Arcobaleno's had lots of arguments and competitions, there were a lot of contests to bet on.

Frankie shuffles the cards and deals them out. Tsunayoshi did as he was told and held the cards up for Skull to see. Since he couldn't play this game he stayed quiet. He didn't even know the rules.

As the game starts, Tsunayoshi notices that people say things, place cards down, move them around and pick up new ones. But suddenly, something shocking (in Tsunayoshi's opinion) happened. The man across from him lied. Tsunayoshi didn't think that was fair. He was just about to say something when Viper placed a hand on his knee and leaned in close

"It's fine. People are supposed to lie in this game. It's how you win" And in Tsunayoshi's opinion, this was a stupid game then. Viper sits up and eyes the man Tsunayoshi keeps glaring at. Under her hood she grins.

Turns out she wins that round.

"Excuse me" she says to one subordinate "Do you mind if we swap seats, the sun's getting in my eyes." She says, sugary sweet. Being a gentleman the man swaps seats with her. He didn't dare say that surely with her hood like that there was no way the sun was in her eyes. She was an Arcobaleno after all. Now she was directly sitting opposite Tsunayoshi.

And could see his expression and eyes a lot better.

It would seem natural to look up and look at the boy. Internally, she laughs in victory. She would be able to tell who was bluffing since Tsunayoshi would tell her. Being so young, he wasn't good at hiding his emotions. As the game went on, her plan worked perfectly. Tsunayoshi stared and pouted at people every time they lied. He wasn't able to hide his disgust with the action. She lost games every now and again, to make it seem as if she wasn't rigging the game. Plus, she could only tell if people were lying or not. She could only infer what type of hand they had from what they said and, since it was a lie, turning it backwards.

The funny thing was, Tsunayoshi kept grabbing Skull's trouser leg too whenever someone lied, but it seemed to her as if Skull hadn't noticed. It took him a **very** long time to cotton on. Once he did, he slowly began to reclaim the money he had lost.

But by the end of it, Viper had won more money than she ever had before. All because of Tsunayoshi. She could hug the boy to death right then and there she was so grateful.

The Boss, fearing he was about to lose his whole gambling fund, decides to stop the game. Viper doesn't mind, she's already won more than she imagined she would.

The perfect distraction comes in the form of a running crowd of Mafiosi. "Yo, Boss. Is it true? Is Skull from Hell here?" they shout excitedly.

Frankie laughs loudly. "He is my boys. And he promised a show for us last time he came here."

Skull jumps up, bouncing on his feet in excitement. "Yeah I did. I brought my bike and everything."

Skull can hear one subordinate whisper "Go on, say it. Say it" so he obliges.

"Bwahaha. Bow down mere mortals. The Immortal Skull has come back from Hell to give you all the show of your lives. It's so good it's a Sin to watch it!" The Mafiosi around them cheer loudly, followed by raucous applause, whistles and shouts for more. And he hadn't even done anything yet. The men rush forwards and pick Skull up, carrying him to where they have prepared a performance area. Now it might seem strange having such an area in your house, but these are houses belonging to Mafia Bosses. They are huge! Just think about all of the different landscapes in the Shimon house. There is plenty of room to create a stage for Skull. And if the tyre tracks are any sign, he performs here a lot.

Tsunayoshi watches in amazement and with wide eyes. He'd never seen people so happy to see Skull before. He'd never seen _Skull_ this happy before. For the first time in a very long time, Skull looked happier than normal. As the men set Skull down he started to run around the arena checking that the stage equipment was safe and in working order. He might be more resilient than most but that didn't mean he'd go looking for broken bones. During this time the rest of the Nuevo men all finds seats in the stands.

Seeing Skull about to get on the Motorcycle, Tsunayoshi runs over to him. "Good Luck Skull! I can't wait to watch you perform. It's going to be amazing I know it" Skull beams and squashes the boy with a hug.

"Thank you Tsunayoshi. I'll make you proud. I promise." He puts the dazed boy down and gives his head a pat. He waits for Tsunayoshi to be seated a safe distance away before waving at him and setting the bike in motion.

Tsunayoshi has seen Skull practice some of his tricks before, but he'd never seen an actual performance. It stared small, allowing Skull to get used to the track once again. But then Skull revved the engine and goes flying. Literally. Both wheels leave the ground and Skull spins the bike around, doing a full loop, before landing back on both wheels on the other side of the jump. Again and again Skull jumps high into the sky but the tricks get harder and more daring each time. His hands leave the handlebars at some points, and at others, the handle bars are all that's connecting him as his feet hang in mid-air.

Tsunayoshi finally knew what Skull meant by 'going flying'. But even from this distance, Tsunayoshi could tell Skull was having the time of his life. It didn't matter that Skull was risking life and limb in doing these stunts. For the first time, Skull looked **alive**. Tsunayoshi wished he could see Skull's expression under the helmet, for he knew that Skull would be wearing the biggest smile Tsunayoshi had even seen, and he really wanted to witness it so he could remember it. He had seen Skull crying far too often. It would be nice to have a memory of Skull fully enjoying himself. Skull was in his element here, not even Reborn or Colonnello bested him. It was his and his alone.

"He's pretty good isn't he?" Tsunayoshi looks up at Viper, who still has her eyes on the stuntman before her. "I can kind of respect him for this. It's rather brave to do something like this: Risking one's life like that. It's different to the way the majority of us risk out lives. We are fighting then, but he does this for pure enjoyment and for the adrenaline rush. It's different"

Tsunayoshi couldn't comment on that really since he wasn't a trained killer like the rest of them (That was debateable though since the rest are training him anyway). But he agreed that he greatly respected Skull for what he was doing. The rest of the crowd was thoroughly enjoying it too by the sound of it. Everyone was sad to see the show end.

However Tsunayoshi got his wish when Skull stopped his bike infront of him and took off his helmet. Skull was literally sparkling with happiness. And the smile was beautiful.

"Bwahahaha! It seems that the Reaper still hates me!" he announces. And as weird as that sounded, it meant that everything was alright. The crowd went crazy at that and shouted out compliments for the Stuntman's performance. Skull takes it all in his obnoxious way, yet it was humbler than before. He wasn't gloating over a win, he was accepting praise for his hard earned skills and he thanked every person for their compliments. As they die out, he holds a hand out to Tsunayoshi. "Come on" he says. Tsunayoshi jumps up and chucks himself off the stand, trusting Skull to catch him. The Stuntman does, and he turns to wave to the crowd. "We'll be going now. I hope you all enjoyed the show." With Tsunayoshi sat infront of him, pinned in place by Skull's body, Skull set's off at high speed, drifting around corners and sending dust everywhere.

Viper says her goodbyes too and sets off at a more sedate pace.

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi and Skull are still buzzing when dinner is served. With the little boy on her lap, Viper is proudly counting her money, patting the boy on the head after every 10 thousand she counts out. Luce's not sure what she thinks about Tsunayoshi being used as a gambling tool. Verde is interested and wishes to make a study of it. Reborn smirks, thinking of using the boy for that purpose too.<p>

"Colonnello, Reborn, you had better take good care of Tsunayoshi tomorrow" orders Luce, sternly looking at the two men.

"They might be great assassins, but they aren't getting past us. Plus Tsunayoshi can defend himself." Comments Reborn half-heartedly, focusing more on his coffee.

"Not against them he can't. And before you say anything, no I am not giving him a weapon Reborn." Claims Luce, slamming her hands on the table.

"So just suit him up like you did for the other dangerous ones, kora" comments Colonnello.

"I've already thought of that. I've made sure that he'll be warm since their house is made of ice and I've even used fur to match in with their outfits. He'll be safe and warm at the same time." She raises her chin, defying Reborn to say something about her choice in fashion. He doesn't though.

Tsunayoshi was far more busy wondering what a house made from ice was like and who on earth would want one.

* * *

><p><strong>Join me next time for a Family that even Gokudera is scared of- another hint there. <strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 23 May 2012**


	26. Have different circumstances too

Chapter 26

Have different circumstances too

**I'm going to say well done to the 5 reviewers who guessed who this Family is. AikoYukari, your cryptic answer actually gave me an idea for this, so thank you. For those who have only seen the anime, you won't know who these people are. **

**I just wanted to ask everyone, how do Ice and Fur equal the Vindiche? I'm not making fun or anything, I am just curious. And for anyone who guessed the Family from the KHR game with the Snow Guardian, just to let you know that I won't be including that Family since they aren't Canon and I've never played the game since I can't get it in the UK. As a result, I can't keep it as accurate as I'd like it to be. **

**OMG that latest chapter was awesome. (tiny spoiler alert here) If any of you had read my fic the Fight Between Leon and Reborn, I said that there had been other generations of Arcobaleno…and I was right. I found that rather cool and funny. My guess as to what the Vindiche are is totally wrong though- I said Zombies powered by the Pacifier, lol. Gya and it had to end THERE didn't it? God I really want the next chapter now!**

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><p>When Tsunayoshi wakes up this morning, he instantly remembers where he is going to day. An Ice House. He could hardly even imagine it let alone guess how it worked. However, the man next to him could. The Arcobaleno had long given up with the cot idea when Tsunayoshi grew too big to use it. And instead of building a new bed for him, they decided it was just easier to let him sleep in with them. They all had king sized beds anyway so it wasn't as if there was a lack of room or anything. So rolling over, he pokes the sleeping scientist next to him. But there is no response. Verde's sleeping patterns were quite funny actually. He slept like a rock unless something went wrong with one of his experiments. When sleeping in the lab, he would wake up instantly if there was a worrying sound like a chemical boiling over or an electrical short out. However, trying to wake him up for anything else was impossible. Tsunayoshi sighs.<p>

"Keiman, jump on him." Asks Tsunayoshi since that sometimes worked. The crocodile walks up from where it was at Tsunayoshi's feet- since it was _totally_ normal to sleep with a crocodile in the bed- and jumps on his master's stomach. Nothing. Verde just rolls over, causing the crocodile to take a head first dive off the bed and into a pile of books. Tsunayoshi rushes over to that side of the bed, clambering over Verde in the process, to check on the Crocodile. It seemed he was okay. So sitting on Verde's stomach, Tsunayoshi tries to think of something 'sciency' to wake the scientist up.

"Um, the velocity of Pi is equal to convection over compound" he shouts. Of course he didn't have a clue what any of those words actually meant. He'd just heard Verde use them when in his underground lab so assumed that they might trigger the scientist into action. A simple case of recall and repeat.

It works

"Tsunayoshi, there are so many things wrong with that sentence. Please don't use words you don't understand. For a start, Pi is a mathematical term and not a physical object therefore it can't be moving and have a velocity. Similarly convection is a process and therefore not a number that could be divided. A compound is a type of object, a term used for classification and therefore cannot be a number either." Verde mumbles, not even opening his eyes. Proud that he had gotten the scientist to wake up, he bounces on Verde's stomach to keep the man awake.

"Ne, Verde. I have a question." He says, still bouncing.

Verde opens one eye to look at the boy and wonders how anyone can be that happy when they've only just woken up. "Yes?"

"How can a house be made of ice? Wouldn't it just melt?" Ice cubes in his drink always melted so surely the house would too. And it would be really cold. He couldn't even hold an ice cube in his hand for that long. Nor could he eat them like Luce did since they were too cold in his mouth. He didn't have a clue what type of people would willingly live somewhere so cold. "Oh, and how large would the mould have to be to make a house?"

Verde just sniggers at that comment since he 'never' laughs out loud. That was such a silly question. Tsunayoshi didn't know why Verde was laughing though. Ice came from a mould, even he knew that. You put water into the mould, put it in the freezer and it became ice. So there must have been an ice mould used. It's not like ice just happened. "Oh, and wouldn't they need a really really large freezer to turn the water into ice?" Verde just looks at Tsunayoshi's innocent yet highly serious face and somehow finds himself laughing out loud. The idea was just too hilarious.

Turning over as best as he can with the child sat upon him, he reaches into his lab coat and pulls out his Observation book. He still kept it since the child managed to surprise him at every turn. After writing down how the child had managed to make _him_ laugh, he turns back to Tsunayoshi and decides on how to answer these ridiculous questions. Well the first two were fine. So putting his hands behind his head so he could see Tsunayoshi better, he explains, "The house wasn't built that way. It was made by freezing lots of water into large bricks, and then using the bricks to create the inside of the house. It's like getting all of the ice cubes in the tray and using them like Lego." Tsunayoshi nods. He could understand that, he likes Lego. "You know the Air Conditioning machine downstairs?" once again Tsunayoshi nods- that kept the house nice and cool when the island passed through the equator. "Well a similar machine keeps the temperature inside the house low enough so that the ice doesn't melt." Verde would have compared it to a walk-in fridge but Tsunayoshi didn't know what that was.

"Verde?" Tsunayoshi asks once more after picturing the house inside his head. "Why would they want to live there? Wouldn't it be too cold?"

"A valid question with a simple answer" replies Verde. Tsunayoshi sits and stares patiently at him. "It reminds them of home"

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi was highly disappointed when he saw an actual brick house infront of him. Where was the ice? Wasn't it going to be an ice castle like in the fairy tale picture books Luce had read to him?<p>

Just like Luce had promised, he was back in the defensive armour, with the addition of fur. It made him feel like Natsu. Reborn and Colonnello were in their normal wear, although instead of Army green, Colonnello was in Army Blue.

"Come on Tsunayoshi, stand closer to me, you'll be fine then, kora" Says Colonnello. He'd noticed that Tsunayoshi has been clinging to Natsu nervously ever since they had left the house.

"Che" Reborn scoffs "You'll just get him into more trouble with your stupidness." He raises his chin and smirks

"What was that?" growls Colonnello, walking to be right infront of Reborn. "You'd just leave him to defend himself saying it was training."

Reborn's eyes harden in anger. "At least I would be there to save him. You'd be in too much trouble yourself to even help him"

"Oh yeah?" shouts Colonnello, getting into Reborn's face, nose to nose. Reborn of course doesn't back down and a staring contest beings. Their angry auras grow and grow until-

"HEEEIII!"

The gates are opened and Tsunayoshi screams. Those auras are immediately turned to the cause of the scream. Yet when they see who it is, they turn back to each other.

"See now you've caused Tsunayoshi to be scared out of his wits, kora!" Growls Colonnello, butting heads with Reborn both physically and verbally once more.

Tsunayoshi just holds Natsu above his head as if protecting himself and stopping himself looking at what had scared him at the same time. His intuition is going crazy, telling him to run from this man before him- telling him that this man is terrifying.

"You are the one who's clumsy with their presence. It's no wonder you still can't walk silently through the forest. That time years ago was just a fluke. Even Tsunayoshi can do that much. I pity Lal for having such a worthless Student."

The face covered in a cream bone like mask turns to the little boy standing with the two arguing men between them. Tsunayoshi swears the person smiles at him.

When the arguing pair come to their senses, their precious person had disappeared, the gate is closed and no one from this Family is waiting to let them in.

" 'Don't worry Tsunayoshi, you'll be fine with me' " says Reborn in a childish girly voice, mocking Colonnello.

Colonnello doesn't reply to the mocking statement and instead turns his back on Reborn and walks away, deciding how it's best to enter this house. Once decided he goes to tell Reborn about his achievement, only to find the Hitman nowhere in sight. Damn that Hitman! He could imagine Reborn's mocking smile already.

* * *

><p>"Heeeiii!" screams Tsunayoshi once more. But there was a definite change in the intonation of this scream. Instead of a scream of fear it was a scream of fun. He had finally found the ice of this house. What he hadn't noticed was that Verde kept saying 'inside the house'. For example, the cold machine was <em>inside<em> the house. Whilst the house was made from traditional bricks, cement and ceramic roof tiles, the inside was totally made from ice. The inside walls- the comparative Lego Ice Bricks- were made from ice, the stairs were made from ice, even some of the furniture was made from ice. It looked absolutely amazing.

And Tsunayoshi was currently sliding at speed along the corridor laughing his head off. If Natsu was a real lion, Tsunayoshi would have strangled him to death in his excitement. He'd never had so much fun. Luce's protective gear was keeping him really warn, whilst his breath formed clouds in the air. He was so going to have to get Verde to create an ice slide in the house for him. If these people could to it then of course Verde could. There wasn't anything Verde couldn't do.

He comes to the end of the corridor and catches himself against the wall before he slams into it. He turns to the man next to him. "That was so fun! You guys get to do this every day?" The masked man nods.

Two different gun shots come from either end of the corridor. The masked man picks him up and throws him up in the air where he is caught by a masked woman with mouse brown hair. The chains around her neck rattle as she pushes off from the wall and flies through a door. The masked man, on the other hand, swings his spade and knocks the bullets out of the air.

When Tsunayoshi hears that the gun fight is over, he runs out of the room, jumps and slides the rest of the way to Reborn, smacking into his legs to stop himself. Holding onto Reborn's leg, he looks up, eyes sparkling. "Reborn, you've got to try this! It's awesome. You can slide and go anywhere you want to really quickly."

Reborn looks over the boy and sees that he's unharmed. "You shouldn't have run off like that brat." He says, sounding as if he doesn't really care. With a flick of his leg, he sends Tsunayoshi sliding in the opposite direction, where he stops against Colonnello's leg.

"Colonnello, you'd to this with me right?" Tsunayoshi asks.

"Maybe when we enter colder climates and it snows I might" Colonnello agrees. "But they didn't hurt you did they?"

The masked pair ignore this comment- they knew of their reputation and it wasn't the nicest in the Mafia. Most people were scared of them. And for a good reason too.

Tsunayoshi shakes his head. "No. They didn't. I was scared of the mask at first, but apart from that they were really nice. They taught me the best way to slide on their ice. It's just sooo fun!"

"We are not stupid, nor do we have a death wish, therefore we would not harm the child under your protection." Says the woman in her native language.

"How about as a peace offering you have a drink on us?" offers the man. He spins his spade in his hands a few times before holstering it on his back. Reborn smirks, these people had the best Vodka in all of the Mafia. Lowering his fedora, Reborn also lowers his head in silent accepting of their offering.

They enter a room where the table is made of ice as are the chairs, with dark green cushions on them. Everyone takes a seat, with Tsunayoshi sitting on lots more pillows that everyone else. One man was already sitting when they entered the room and he had a club with nails sticking out of it resting against his chair, easily in arms reach. He takes this moment to get a proper look at the people before him. The two men wore fluffy hats with what looked mysteriously like a tail coming off of it, just like the one Xanxus wore. Both wore long green formal looking jackets, one coming down to the hips whilst the other came to the knees. Both coats had fluffy shoulder pads and fur on the cuffs too. Finally both males had lots of badges and chains on their uniforms too. Both wore green trousers and army boots. Actually, now that he thought of that, the uniform did have an army feel about it and the badges reminded him of what he had seen the few times Lal had dressed in formal Army wear. Tsunayoshi was worried about the woman though since she wore a lot less clothing than the males. She wore a green tube top in the same green as the males with black fur across her chest. More army like chains were around her neck instead of on her clothes. Her stomach was exposed. She wore skin tight trousers that started off as black and faded back to the army green before being tucked into black knee high fur boots. All three wore cream bone like masks that were different from each other. How the woman wasn't cold, Tsunayoshi didn't have a clue.

"I suppose that I had better introduce them to you, shouldn't I, kora?" laughs Colonnello, hand on his neck in embarrassment. "This is the Giegue Family and they come from Russia where it is really cold and snows a lot."

"Oh, so that's why Verde said the ice reminds them of home" says Tsunayoshi. Snow only happened when it was cold, just like ice did, or at least that's what Verde had told him.

The leader of the Giegue, the one who had 'kidnapped' Tsunayoshi, grabs a bottle on a shelf along with a few shot glasses, handing them out to everyone. He then looks at Tsunayoshi and grabs another bottle too. Whilst the woman pours Tsunayoshi a shot from the new bottle, the leader pours out drinks for the adults. Tsunayoshi didn't know why two different bottles were being used when both held water.

"The lady is Anastasia" Reborn supplies and Tsunayoshi thanks her for the drink. "The man across from you is Nikola and the leader is called Viktor" Tsunayoshi waves at them.

"And you are the boy with the worst and best sense of balance I have ever seen" says Viktor in Russian. Reborn and Colonnello both laugh since it was true; when it came to fights and training, Tsunayoshi's sense of balance was quite good, honed by Fon. But when it came to the basics like say, running, Tsunayoshi kept on falling over.

"Hmm, what did he say?" asks Tsunayoshi, assuming it was about him since everyone looked at him.

"I said, and you are Tsunayoshi" says Viktor in Italian.

"Anyway, let's raise our glasses to the continued good relationship between us" says Anastasia. Everyone nods, raises their shot glasses and down the drink. Tsunayoshi watches and copies.

What he doesn't know, is that what the others are drinking isn't water like he is, but Russia's finest Vodka. They slam their glasses on the table, Tsunayoshi copying a few seconds later.

"Ne, Reborn, how do you know them then?" asks Tsunayoshi.

"I've done some work with them before" That was an understatement. Reborn was one of the few people to approach them due to their fearsome reputation.

"Work?" asks Tsunayoshi once more. He knew Reborn was something called a Hitman, but as far as he knew that meant being sneaky and shooting things… like him.

"That's right. We are also known as the Grave Diggers" replies Nikola, a hint of pride and a smile in his voice.

"So you bury the people Reborn kills?" he asks, his voice far too innocent for what he had just said. Tsunayoshi knew what death was, and what killing was. He did live with a Hitman, Soldiers, an ex-mafia Boss, an assassin psychic, a martial arts assassin and a chemist. Skull was the only one whose occupation wasn't a killer. Although he did do some jobs for one Family, so Tsunayoshi suspected he was a killer too. Killing and Mafia seemed to go together.

"Not quite" replies Viktor. "We also help to kill people. Our assassination rate is 100% and that's why we are known as the grave diggers. Since we kill all of our targets, we bury them too."

Another round is poured out as Colonnello says "You don't need to tell him that, He is only 4 you know." And he downs his shot.

"hn, we've been over this, idiot. It's better if he learns this now so it doesn't affect him as bad when he grows up. Or do you want to deal with all of the emotional trauma?" replies Reborn in Russian so Tsunayoshi doesn't understand. After giving Colonnello a glare, he drinks his shot too.

Whilst the two argue in Russian and whatever other languages pass their lips, the Giegue turn back to Tsuna and give him another glass of water so he doesn't feel left out. "We are also known as Grave Diggers since we use it as a technique to complete our missions." Seeing Tsunayoshi confused face, Nikola continues "We bury them alive until they tell us what we want to know or until they die."

Tsunayoshi didn't like the sound of that. "Why do you do that?" asks Tsunayoshi. It didn't sound too fun. Being buried in a pile of blankets was bad enough.

"Well in Russia it's so cold that people often die from the cold first. Do you know how that happens?" Tsunayoshi shakes his head "The body shuts down and you fall asleep but never wake up" Anastasia supplies.

"So it's not that bad then. You are actually being nice" says Tsunayoshi. They were amazed by the boy's ability to always look at the bright and good side of things.

Death by freezing sleep wasn't as bad as some of the other things Mafiosi had been known to do. Of course the being buried alive bit was highly traumatic. It was almost a blessing to die from it since they didn't have to deal with the emotional aftermath. Of course those who deserved a painful death were buried in the ground rather than the ice. It was cold, but not enough to cause the body to shut down.

"I suppose you could say that. If we get to the victims quick enough then we can also salvage their organs and give them to people who need them. A lot of accidents happen in Russia due to digging in the ice and other dangerous activities." They didn't mention the extortionately high prices these organs were sold for.

"That's another good thing right?" Little Tsunayoshi didn't know what an organ transplant was after all. The Giegue nod confirmation. Anastasia pours another shot for the arguing pair, who pick the drinks up whilst glaring at each other and drink them, slamming the glasses down once more, before the argument continues without missing a beat.

Tsunayoshi looks at them and notices a glint of _winning_ in Reborn's eyes. Looking at Colonnello, Tsunayoshi didn't know why, but he was rather flushed. Suddenly Colonnello turns around and grabs Tsunayoshi pulling him to his chest. "Tsunayoshi is MY little baby and I'm not letting anything bad happen to him" announces Colonnello. Tsunayoshi was finding it hard to breathe. He could only guess at what they had been arguing about.

The others all giggle since it was obvious that Colonnello was now drunk. Couldn't hold his alcohol it seems.

"I hate it how mean you are to him Reborn. You are just one big bully who thinks he's better than everyone. I don't know why Tsunayoshi thinks he can **save** you, kora!. He shouldn't bother. No, he should spend all of his time with ME. Isn't that right Tsunayoshi?" Tsunayoshi can't give an answer right now, nor does he want to be involved.

"I mean just look at how cute he is, kora. Who wouldn't want to keep him with them ALL of the time?" He removes Tsunayoshi from his chest and holds him out to the others, as if showing off a new teddy bear. He then pulls Tsunayoshi back to his chest, but this time Tsunayoshi is looking outwards. "Me and Lal are the only ones who need to look after him. He can be OUR child! No one else's, just Lal's and Mine. Not Luce's or Viper's or Verde's, or Fon's or Skull's and definitely not YOUR's Reborn." Colonnello glares at Reborn before rubbing his cheek against Tsunayoshi's hair.

"How can you be so nice and cuddly and so… **nice** Tsunayoshi?" Colonnello asks. Tsunayoshi didn't have a clue what was going on, never having seen Colonnello like this before. Reborn had an extremely high alcohol tolerance, so did Luce- some Mafia Negotiation Technique-thing apparently. Fon didn't drink. Skull, Tsunayoshi wasn't sure about. Verde knew how to limit himself so that he didn't get drunk. He had found the exact number of units he could drink before becoming drunk under different circumstances. Lal didn't drink usually, too busy with both of her jobs. Viper disappeared when she felt herself becoming drunk so no one could see the affects.

"I hope mine and Lal's child is as cool as you are Tsunayoshi." Colonnello mumbles into Tsunayoshi's hair.

Reborn smiles in Victory. This was the reason he had brought Colonnello along and dealt with the obnoxious boy for so long. Leon was even recording the whole event as blackmail material for later.

Colonnello sets Tsunayoshi on the table before standing up and slamming his palm on the table. "You!" and he points at Reborn, rocking side to side slightly "I challenge you, Reborn the 'greatest La-ti-ta Hitman' to a duel to see who gets to keep Tsunayoshi, kora! I'm not putting up with the way you treat MY cute and wonderful Tsunayoshi any longer." Of course Colonnello was forgetting that everyone looked after Tsunayoshi and no matter who won, he would still be living in the same house and be seeing the both of them just as often as usual. Reborn smirks and lowers his fedora.

"I accept. It'll be an easy win for me. You should learn you place, little yapping puppy" he smiles a rather dangerous and condescending smile at Colonnello, which seems to aggravate the soldier even more. So everyone goes out into the garden to watch the fight. Reborn turns to the Giegue. "You know what to do" they nod before sitting Tsunayoshi in-between them.

There is no starting signal- Colonnello just pulls out his riffle and starts to shoot with amazing accuracy considering his current state. As the battle continues there are more bullets flying than Tsunayoshi could have thought possible. He gasps and chucks himself on the floor as one comes towards him. After hearing a ding, he looks up to find Anastasia's Kusarigama (Chain-scythe) infront of him, a broken bullet on the floor. Another ding from behind and Tsunayoshi sees Viktor's spade blocking another bullet.

"Let's make this interesting shall we?" asks Anastasia. Tsunayoshi can feel the others grin behind their masks. She pulls out some sort of controller from her pocket and presses a button. Tsunayoshi can't see any changes. Grabbing her weapon, she swings it, the scythe flying just above the ground. Reborn cartwheels one-handed out of the way, using the other hand to still shoot bullets at Colonnello. Colonnello crouches to the ground and gives the scythe a spin kick, sending it back in Reborn's direction. Reborn smirks and jumps backwards. However as he lands, the ground falls out from beneath him. Shocked, he falls into the hole. Colonnello laughs. Being a COMSUBIN member, he's well versed in traps and could notice the newly activated security traps Anastasia had triggered. Running over, Colonnello shoots into the hole before leaning back to dodge Reborn's return fire. As he leans back he places a hand on the ground behind him to balance himself and kicks some dirt into the hole and into Reborn's eyes as the Hitman jumps out of the trap. Tsunayoshi can see a cut in the Hitman's arm bleeding slightly. Gasping, he goes to stop the fight but is stopped by the Nail-Club of Nikola's.

Now temporally blinded, Reborn has to rely on sound to tell where Colonnello is. However, the Giegue aren't making it easy with their (purposeful) loud cheering. A shake from Leon tells the Hitman which direction Colonnello is in. He gives Leon a squeeze before shaking his hand downwards. At a signal from Leon, Reborn ducks and Leon changes into a chain. Flicking his wrist, he captures Colonnello's leg as the man flies over him. Colonnello hits the ground and has his legs pulled from underneath him, causing him to slam into the ground. Hearing the impact, Reborn smirks and sends Colonnello flying once again. Colonnello gives a piercing whistle. Within moments, his faithful pet Falco flies in. Reborn still can't see the bird's arrival, so instead gives Colonnello another flying trip as he feels the soldier fight Leon's hold. He knows the bird is there, however, when he feels the cold air on his head as his Fedora is stolen. Blinking a few times to remove the last of the grit, Reborn aims at the bird and fires. Falco dodges the bullets as best as he can. Whilst Reborn's focus is on Falco, Colonnello comes in and gives Reborn a kick in the side, which the Hitman dodges. Falco flies in close and Reborn makes a grab for his Fedora. Just as Reborn is off balance from his grab, Colonnello gives Reborn another kick that impacts this time. Reborn tumbles and accidently activates another trap, this one filled with ice cold water. His hands hit the sides and hold him above the water-filled pit. Pushing off with his legs, he flips over it.

Both stand there, staring each other down and panting without trying to show it. Reborn's clothes are scuffed and dirty, his side hurts from the kick and his bullet wound stings from the dust. Colonnello has scrapes and bruises from slamming into the ground and a few bullet scrapes from the start. Falco still has the Fedora.

"Oh, I never thought to ask you guys, but why are you in the Mafia? You seem to be quite nice compared to the stories I've heard." Asks Tsunayoshi, watching the fight and dodging stray bullets.

The Giegue weren't going to say that this was the nicest they had even been to anyone. Usually Tsunayoshi would be 10 feet under with them laughing at his screaming panic. But there was something about the boy that stopped them from doing that. They felt like they needed to be nice to him, they had been drawn in like no other had done before. "Our aim is to make as much money as possible. Assassinations usually pay well and they are fun to do" which was true. It took a certain mind-set to bury someone alive after all. "The money we create is used to provide a nice living for our Familigia since living in Russia can be tough. Lots of bad people come to Russia for safety, and we don't want the Name of our Country to be sullied by them. So we kill them off to deter others from coming in. People should face their sins straight on." replies Viktor as the Boss.

Tsunayoshi nods and thinks about that as he watches the battle in front of him continue on. Reborn had his fedora back on and Colonnello seemed to have a few more bullet wounds and was limping. Reborn wasn't doing much better and seemed to have a cracked rib.

Tsunayoshi turns to Anastasia "Ne, can I have another go sliding down the corridors?" he smiles.

* * *

><p>Just as Tsunayoshi is thinking that he'd like to go home now there is a knock at the door. A few moments later, Viper walks in. "Let's go home Tsunayoshi" she says. Having Psychic powers was good every now and again. He agrees and takes her hand before saying goodbye to the Giegue. They leave the brawling men outside.<p>

Outside the gate, he looks about. Directly in front of him is one Family he has still yet to visit. To the right of that is the Estraneo House. Next door to the Giegue on the right is another Family he has yet to meet. However it's the house after that that Tsunayoshi is interested in. He feels a pull from his intuition towards that house. But before he can act on it, Viper pulls him in the opposite direction.

The boys don't get back until after dinner is served. Luce ends up shouting at them for a couple of hours and leaves them to patch up their own wounds as punishment. If they needed help (and with the placements of some wounds, they certainly would) they would have to ask the other to help. She wasn't going to heal wounds nor pride this evening.

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><p><strong>And there ends the chapter on the Giegue Family. They appear in Chapter 290 and are defeated by Adel from Shimon. I think they have about 4 pages worth of 'screen time'. I made up practically all of the details about them. Their uniforms I got from the only picture of them. Anastasia's and Nikola's weapons are from the picture too. I changes Viktor's to a spade to match the name, plus you can't really tell from the picture what his weapon is. I also named them with Russian Names and created their house too. Their Circumstances (to match up with the title) I created too. We literally know nothing about them accept that Gokudera is scared of them due to their reputation and that they are possibly allies with Vongola; They want to remove the threat to the Inheritance ceremony as a present to Decimo but end up getting defeated by Adel instead. <strong>

**Homework Question: Who won the fight? Reborn or Colonnello?**

**Join me next time**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 26 May 2012**


	27. But Together

Chapter 27:

But Together

**Seems like we have a lot of Reborn supporters reading this fic. I however, like a few others, hope that Colonnello would win with some random and totally unsuspected Drunk Attack. Or, like a few others, it ends in a draw. However, there is the fact that Reborn is the Strongest Arcobaleno and he wasn't drunk at the time. But for being drunk, Colonnello sure put up an awesome fight.  
><strong>

**I've been waiting to write this chapter the _WHOLE_ time I've been writing this fic- which is quite a while now. And this, I can hopefully guarantee, is totally unique. (it damn better be)**

* * *

><p>Today it was raining. As simple as that. Unluckily for the others, they all had things to be doing today. Apart from Luce, whose job, since she was no longer the Giglio Nero Boss, was to stay home all day. Lucky her. Skull was off doing a Stunt Gig. Viper was helping the Varia. Reborn too was on a mission as was Fon. Lal and Colonnello were off doing something for the CONSUBIN. Verde had gone to a science convention. The house hadn't been this empty for a long time.<p>

Not that Tsunayoshi minded all that much. He loved playing in the rain. After gaining permission from Luce, he put on his Stylised Lion rain cape, a pair of yellow lion wellingtons and went outside to go jump in puddles.

_This is it. The chance I've been waiting for. Luce is watching a soap opera and won't check on Tsunayoshi for another hour. None of the other Arcobaleno are in the house. There is no better time than this. I can complete the most important part of the plan. We've all worked too hard on this plan for it to fail now. I will accomplish my mission. _ Thinks the Man in the Trees to himself. So jumping down from his perch, he walks over to the Arcobaleno house's gate.

_Everything has been going well so far. Tsunayoshi, boy it sounds weird thinking that, anyway, he's started to build up good relationships with every Family on Mafia Row. All of the Families know who he is and find him cute, adorable and generally loveable. That's just what we need. The Mafia needs to be more joined, more like one big Family and hopefully Tsunayoshi, I'm not going to get over how weird that sounds, will be able to accomplish that. Hopefully he can win this person over too. I found out about them too late to be able to do anything. With this Family, we will be able to stop the threat. I sure hope so. _

With his hopes riding on the small boy on the other side of the gate, he unlocks it and cracks it open. Leaving before Tsunayoshi can notice him, he hides back in the trees to watch.

Jump, jump jump. Tsunayoshi jumps from one puddle to the next, trying to make the biggest splash possible. He jumps right down the path towards the gate. Just as he is about to turn around and go back again, he notices something strange. The gate was open. He looks around and doesn't see anyone around who could have opened it. So going up to it, he peers outside. Still nothing. However his eyes travel upwards and he looks straight down Mafia Row. And there, far in the distance, was a house that was the mirror image of his own. Where his house had white walls, it's was black. Blue windows became red.

And something draws him to that house. It's so strong that he actually steps outside the safety of the gate and onto Mafia Row by himself.

He walks past Aria's house.

_As Tsunayoshi leaves the Giglio Nero base, he waves and says 'byebye' to everyone, since that's what Luce taught him to do. Everyone smiles back and says bye too._

"_Did you enjoy today Tsunayoshi?" Luce asks as they walk back inside the Arcobaleno gate._

"_Yeah I did. So did Natsu!" he replies, shaking the lion in enthusiasm. Yet as he looks back up at the house, his heart clenches and he stops walking._

"_Are you alright Tsunayoshi?" Luce asks, concerned._

"_Hmm, but something's missing." He says absentmindedly as he turns to look back down Mafia Row._

"_Really, but you've got Natsu there." Luce was sure that Natsu was the only thing they brought with them. Tsunayoshi had both of his shoes on, his jumper and coat, so what could be missing?_

"_I don't know. Here" and he points to his heart "Says something is missing"_

He walks past the house belonging to Vongola Version Vigilante.

_Tsunayoshi takes a look to the left and down the rest of Mafia Row before looking to his right back towards home. His eyes are once more drawn to the left. __Something is still missing... and it's over there._

_Just as the gates are about to close, Giotto makes one more comment. "Tsunayoshi don't worry. You'll find what's missing soon. Just remember to be brave, and to be like the Sky- accepting everything." And the gates bang shut._

_"Tsunayoshi are you coming?" calls Fon from where the others are, further down the street. He nods and runs to catch up to them, only looking backwards down the street once._

He walks past the Giegue's house.

_Next door to the Giegue on the right is another Family he has yet to meet. However it's the house after that that Tsunayoshi is interested in. He feels a pull from his intuition towards that house. But before he can act on it, Viper pulls him in the opposite direction._

There was something missing.

_Tsunayoshi looks down at his drawing of the scene, with everyone drawn in the colours he thinks represents them. Not that he'd tell them that, yellow wasn't exactly a colour to describe Reborn after all. But he still felt like it was the right colour for him. It wasn't until then, with it all drawn out that he realised he's drawn using a rainbow of colours- Viper was included in the picture, he had just imagined what she'd be doing, most likely counting the money she had won from last night. He was in the picture too, coloured the same orange Luce was. It wasn't due to his admiration of her, he did admire her though, but he just felt like it was the right colour for him. And looking down at the pack of crayons, he remembered something that had been bugging him for a while now._

There was something missing, the colour black.

There was something missing from the Arcobaleno House and he was going to find it.

There was something missing, but he thinks he's found it. At the house that is the total opposite end of Mafia Row.

So walking down the street, the rain pouring around him, he keeps on going forwards. Amazingly the gate to this House was open too. So he enters.

It's not a pretty place. The flowers are wilting, the tree is like a Skeleton's hand reaching for the sky. The only flowers that are alive are either black tulips or white lilies. Creeping up the path he continues on, feeling scared but determined to accomplish his mission. It is silent, apart from the rain. But even that seemed far too quiet.

He walks up to the door and thinks about what he should do. Knocking would be the best thing- it wasn't right to just walk in without permission. But as he raises his hand to do so, the door opens by itself. He hadn't even touched it yet.

"Enter" the voice is muffled and deep, far deeper than Reborn's, or even Verde's. Giotto had said that he needed to be brave for this part. Colonnello and Reborn were always telling him to be brave.

He looks behind him, all the way to the Arcobaleno house in the distance and nods to himself. He steps through the door.

The door slams shut behind him and he is encased in total darkness. He wants to scream, he didn't like the dark. He wanted Luce's warm reassurance, Fon's calming presence and Verde's gruff voice explaining what was happening. He wanted Reborn's telling off, Colonnello's cheery encouragement and Lal's shouts of how silly he was. He wanted to hear Skull scream in fright with him, he wanted Viper to stand infront of him, an illusionary fireball sat in her palm. He wanted them here, protecting him from the darkness.

Just as he is about to start to panic, lights bloom into existence in the form of Candelabra along the walls. He is shocked to find that the layout of the house was exactly the same as at home. The lights flicker out and in that moment of darkness, figures suddenly appear. Tsunayoshi jumps backwards in fright when these people are revealed by the returning light. Chains rush at him and Tsunayoshi just stands there in shock.

"Halt" comes the same voice once more. The chains freeze in place, centimetres from his body.

"Identify yourself"

"Um, could you take these away from me first, they are rather scary" pleads Tsunayoshi. These chains had rather sharp spikes on the end.

"Dismissed" and the other cloaked figures leave in the moment the lights die out once more.

Now there is only him and one other in the room. He looks up at this person and something clicks

He'd found it.

He'd found what is missing.

He runs forwards and grabs this stranger's leg. "That was so scary!" he cries. The stranger freezes, not expecting the contact.

"Little Child I ask once more: Identify Yourself" says the gruff voice.

Tsunayoshi takes a step backwards, yet still clutches a handful of black cape in his hands. "I am Tsunayoshi"

"And why have you stepped into my Domain?" These people never got visitors. Ever.

"To bring you home" says Tsunayoshi, eyes staring at the bandaged face determinedly. Then he smiles one of the brightest smiles he ever has done. The man is shocked by the purity and innocence of the smile.

"But I am home" says the man. Tsunayoshi shakes his head rapidly.

"No you are not." He was going to bring this man home even if he had to drag him there.

"I think we need to have a discussion about this." Says the man. Normally he would have chucked the boy out by now, but there was just something about the boy that wouldn't let him. "Follow me"

Tsunayoshi nods and follows the man, not letting go of the cape once. His intuition is saying that this man is safe. Dangerous but safe, just like everyone else at home. And Tsunayoshi's thoughts about the house are confirmed when the living room is in the exact same place as the one at home.

The man sits down on an armchair and points a hand at the sofa next to him. Tsunayoshi sits where he's told to.

"You are not scared of me?" the man asks. Tsunayoshi shakes his head.

"No I'm not." Replies Tsunayoshi earnestly.

"Do you even know who I am?" the man asks. Everyone was scared of him and his Family. No one wanted to meet with one of his Family for it spelt certain doom and tragedy.

"I am the leader of the Mafia Jailers, I am the Boss of the Vindice. I am the man who tortures wrong doers and laughs at their screams. I am a man who can ignore any plea for forgiveness, and tears one may cry and still accomplish my job with a free conscience and a smile on my face. I am someone who could lock you up for eternity and not even care. And yet you are not scared of me?" the man shouts.

"I am a man with only one reason for living: revenge for my Family. Yet you want to bring me into your house?"

"I haven't done anything wrong, nor have the others. So there is no need for you to take out your revenge on us." Reasons Tsunayoshi. He knew what revenge was. A lot of the pranks around the house were done in the name of Revenge. "I don't care what you are like. I'll get used to you. I got used to all of the others after all. Everyone thinks I'm crazy to be living with people like them. But they don't know the others like I do. And I really want to get to know you too." Tsunayoshi gets to his knees and leans his elbows on the arm rest to be able to see this man better.

"You are part of the Vindice right? That's what you said. They are people who jail others in the Mafia who do really really bad things right? So you are doing something good. You are protecting not only your family from threats but everyone else too. So why wouldn't I like you? You are everyone's knight!" he smiles once more.

"Fwahahaha" laughs the man, so deeply that Tsunayoshi can almost feel the vibrations. "A knight? You see me as a knight? I have never been called that before."

"But it's true. I can tell. You are crying inside and I want to stop that." The man stops laughing and looks at the strangest boy he has ever met. The boy is serious, it can be seen in his eyes. Those eyes shock the man, they are so earnest and sympathetic and understanding. The man felt as if the boy could really see his tears.

Tsunayoshi climbs off the sofa and into the man's lap, giving him a hug. "Everyone is scared of you for they know that they are doing naughty things. You want revenge because someone did something naughty to those people you like right?" the man dumbly nods, looking down at the puff of brown hair. "But even though they are your Family you know you are different to them."

"That's right. I am uncursed" the man whispers. Even though that sounded like a good thing to Tsunayoshi, by the sound of it, it wasn't in his eyes.

"So come home with me. I want to make you happy again. You want to be with us, I can tell." The man just sits there in stunned silence, wondering how on earth this boy can read his deepest emotions as if he has the book in his hands. "This house. It's exactly the same as mine. There is no more proof needed. You want to be with us. You know your home is there with us. So come on, come home with me." Tsunayoshi sounds slightly desperate.

He got off the chair and grabbed what he assumed was the man's hand- he can't tell under the cloak. Heaving, he pulls the man upwards. Not letting go, he relentlessly drags the man forwards.

Before the man knows it, he is outside of the Vindice gates and walking down Mafia Row, being dragged by a small child.

Every person in every house feels the sudden aura of a Vindice roaming the streets. Like the people they are, all climb up to the top of their houses and look out of the windows, curious to see which house the Vindice Officer ends up at. To see which poor fool has angered them now. But all are shocked to see what is undoubtedly Tsunayoshi dragging the Vindice officer down the centre of Mafia Row. It is clear that the boy is leading due to his position. Every single person is shocked beyond belief. Just what on earth was that cute boy doing?

Bosses and subordinates alike rush to their gates and open them wide, determined to save the little boy they care about from any threat the Vindice officer might present.

The man in the trees smiles at this reaction from the other members of the Mafia. He even took a video of it. It was undeniable proof that their plan was working. That things were on their way to being fixed. He couldn't wait to show this to the others.

The Estraneo Boss looks at the boy with interest. He really wanted to know what made that boy tick, to be so fearless with a Vindice officer that close to him. This boy was full of contradictions; scared of his men yet not of the monster he was guiding.

The Giegue Boss follows the little boy's actions, and is glad to know that he is not the only fearsome person to be affected by the child.

Naito looks at Tsunayoshi and gives a cheer. He liked what the other man was dressed in and wondered if he could find a girlfriend who dressed up like that.

Iemitsu looks on at his son and wonders whether the boy likes getting the people he's living with killed, for surely that's all that would happen to Lal and the others if a Vindice Officer went to see them.

A very young Hayato looks out of his window in wonder, amazed to see that Tsunayoshi has worked his magic once again. He knew exactly how the Vindice officer was feeling. For both of them, Tsunayoshi had walked into their lives, flipped and twisted them until everything was better than before.

The Gate Keeper's watch the procession and their son decides he wants to fight that boy, even if he doesn't have a clue who the boy is or where he lives.

Shimon Primo looks on at the two rain soaked figures and bows to the Vindice officer. He recognised the feathered cloak, and that meant that the Officer before him was the one who helped to solve the Fight between Vongola and Shimon.

The members of Vongola Version Vigilante look on at the little boy. Vongola Primo smiles, glad that Tsunayoshi's intuition had lead him to what he needed to find. He looks up into the trees and smiles once more. It seemed that everything was going to be alright. "Did you remember what I said Tsunayoshi?"

"Yeah I did. Be like the Sky and accept all" Tsunayoshi smiles before continuing on.

The Varia watch with smiles on their faces. "Oy brat, what you got there?" shouts Xanxus.

"My new friend. He's going to come home with me!" says Tsunayoshi, smiling the only smile in the world that will affect the Varia.

An assortment of weapons are suddenly on display, ranging from guns to swords to… umbrellas. All are aimed at the Vindice officer. "You hurt our little brother and you won't live to see the next sun rise, Vindice Officer or not. Understand Trash?" warns Xanxus.

Tsunayoshi laughs and continues on walking. None of the Varia could detect any fear from the Brat. That just proved it even more:

That brat was Varia Quality.

Vongola Nono is worried about his little cousin. "And how did you end up dragging one of the Mafia Jailers through the rain Tsunayoshi?" Nono asks.

"I just followed my Intuition like you told me." Nono smiles and bows his head in acceptance. He could ask for nothing more.

"Mother's worried sick you know" says Aria. "She called the others back early to look for you." Oh dear, they weren't going to be too happy then.

Tsunayoshi stops just before he reaches the Arcobaleno gate. He turns to the Vindice officer and smiles another warm smile. "Welcome to the Arcobaleno house. Welcome Home!"

The man chuckles to himself. "No my old house is truly the Arcobaleno's house. Those in the Mafia have gotten everything backwards. The name of the Arcobaleno was given to those you live with right" Tsunayoshi nods. The Arcobaleno hadn't chosen that name, the people of the Mafia had called them that and the name had stuck "People do not know what that truly means. All outsiders know is that it's the name given to the Strongest 7 people, so they gave it to them. I hope they have not brought the curse upon themselves."

"Um, I'm sorry mister, but I don't get what you are talking about." Explains Tsunayoshi, tilting his head to the side.

The man just sighs. "That's alright Little Child. I suppose my home really is with them. And who knows, maybe I'll end up back with my Family one day. If I survive"

"If you survive? I won't let the other's harm you. I'll tell Reborn off if he attacks you, alright" offers Tsunayoshi. However, he hadn't understood what the man was really talking about.

He pushes open the gate and both take a few steps inwards.

But that's when chaos breaks loose.

Tsunayoshi ducks and dodges a few bullets before jumping over the next lot. However he is surprised to find chains blocking the next lot of bullets. He was half expecting this as punishment for running off. What he isn't expecting is for a lot more bullets to be aimed at his new friend.

"Tsunayoshi!" come lots of different shouts.

He is grabbed and picked up by invisible hands before becoming invisible himself. "No Viper put me down!"

"How dare you take Tsunayoshi" growls Fon, certainly not calm for once. He rushes forwards and starts to aim kicks and punches at the Vindice Officer. Yet the man defends himself with his chains.

"No! Stop attacking him" screams Tsunayoshi as Viper holds him close to stop him struggling. Skull comes and stands infront of them, determined to protect Tsunayoshi with his body. He wasn't all that good at fighting, he was better at protecting.

More bullets rain down upon the man, but his chains protects him from them all. Tsunayoshi can see Lal and Colonnello jumping around in the trees to get a new position to aim from. Reborn jumps down behind the man, aiming Leon at the man's heart.

"Stop it now! Don't hurt him!" keeps on screaming Tsunayoshi, but they aren't listening to him.

"Guys back away" shouts Verde before chucking some sort of capsule, filled with a bright green liquid, at the Vindice guard. The chain whacks it away, yet that gives Fon the perfect opening for an attack. Weaving over the chains Fon goes to punch the man's stomach. However he is blocked by the man's own hand. The Officer returns the punch and ends up knocking Fon into the air and far away.

Verde passes some sort of wire to Reborn, who takes it and runs towards the Jailer. Luce provides a covering fire with her own gun as Reborn runs closer to the Mafia Jailer. As Reborn fakes a kick to the man, the jailer blocks once more with his chains. But that's just what Reborn and Verde want. Reborn attaches the wire to the Jailer and backs away. Verde flicks a switch on a controller and an electrical charge goes down the wire and is conducted into the chains the Vindice uses. The Jailer stiffens, feeling the electrical current flow through his body.

"No! I said stop it now. Stop fighting!" screams Tsunayoshi. He doesn't want to see his Family fight any more. So he uses his last resort and screams like a true child.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

The Officer looks directly at Viper and Tsunayoshi and runs towards them, dropping his chains in the process. Viper might be one of the few people who could use illusions on a Vindice, but he wasn't just any Vindice. Raising his flame high he clears the illusion from his mind and snatches Tsunayoshi away from Viper.

Tsunayoshi stops screaming and hugs the Vindice officer. The fighting stops at that display. Hearing that the fight is over, Tsunayoshi sniffs up his tears and looks at the Arcobaleno before him. "I said to stop fighting him. He didn't take me, I went to find him. He is Family you can't hurt him." The Arcobaleno look at Tsunayoshi disbelievingly. "It's true. I've always felt like something was missing and he's it"

"You did say something was missing before " admits Luce. She never thought he'd meant an actual person though.

"And you kept on looking towards the Vindice's house." Says Viper, she had noticed it many times before, the longing look Tsunayoshi would send down the street.

"That's right. He's what's been missing. Or tell me why there are 10 bedrooms, and a table big enough to fit 10 of us then" 7 bedrooms for the seven strongest, one for Colonnello who had wormed his way in, one for Tsunayoshi when he grew up and one spare room. "You said we never have guests, so it can't be for them. It's for him"

"Tsunayoshi, that's a member of the Vindice you are with there" says Skull, looking scared of the man

"So what?" asks Tsunayoshi. "I'm already living with the 7 strongest and most dangerous people in the mafia, most of which are killers, so what's the difference? This man is a knight, protecting everyone in the Mafia from the really bad people, it's better than what some of you do" he looks at Reborn for this point. Reborn was the one who took hits for less noble reasons.

"But Tsunayoshi-" starts Luce.

"No. I'm not coming home until he is living there with me. I'll just go and live with the Vindice instead." Interrupts Tsunayoshi.

The others look at each other. What else could they do? They weren't powerful enough to stop the man before them and Tsunayoshi seemed pretty set on living with the man. His intuition hadn't led them astray before now, he had always been right. But this was one of the Vindice. And for some reason, he wanted to live with them instead of with the rest of the Mafia Jailers. They look at the tight hold the Officer has on Tsunayoshi and notice that the boy has charmed him like he has done to everyone else. And they couldn't defy his logic, they themselves didn't know why the house was built for 10 when the Arcobaleno title usually went to 7 people.

Verde turns around, scribbling away in his Observation note book and enters the house. That little book was one of many that proved that what Tsunayoshi did was always good in the end.

Viper opens her eyes after doing a little digging through Tsunayoshi's mind. She sighs in defeat and follows Verde into the house.

Luce looks at Tsunayoshi and notices the look in his eyes. As a mafia boss she knew she had to take chances on some of her subordinates. So this was just another leap of faith she was going to have to take. She too walks into the house.

Noticing that Luce has walked into the house, Lal takes another look at the Vindice. Tsunayoshi had always been able to tell when danger was about to happen, whether that be an attack or a weapon that was about to backfire. So maybe this man wasn't dangerous. And she'd just have another threat to use against her students now. She turns on her heels and marches into the house.

Colonnello agrees with Lal and follows her inside. He was always one to give things a chance after all.

Resuming his normal state of calm, Fon follows Colonnello inside. Everyone deserved a fair chance to redeem themselves and they had attacked without knowing the full picture. Tsunayoshi's judgement was always a good one.

Skull looks towards the doors and wonders, not for the first time, what crazy and insane people he is living with. This was one of the Vindice. THE VINDICE! And they were just going to let him live here with them. What on earth were they thinking? They could wake up tomorrow far under the ground in one of their prisons. They might not even wake up tomorrow. But it was Tsunayoshi who had suggested that the man live with them. Tsunayoshi was the only one who cared for his wellbeing, so he surely wouldn't bring a threat into the house. Tsunayoshi had believed in him when no one else had, so maybe it was time to return the favour. With that decided, Skull runs inside the house.

Reborn smirks. This was going to be interesting in his opinion. He would be a new person to spar against, to test his skills against.

"Is this what you really want Tsunayoshi?" Reborn asks the little boy.

Tsunayoshi nods. "It is. He's going to live here whether you like it or not Reborn" Tsunayoshi wasn't going to back down on this point. He'd listen to Reborn the rest of the time.

"Do you want it enough to fight me for it?" he asks, his smirk still on his face. He notices the Jailer's hold on Tsunayoshi tighten.

"I will if I have to Reborn."

"You'd fight me, weapon-less and untrained as you are, just to let this man live with us?" Reborn raises an eyebrow.

Tsunayoshi stares him straight in the eyes. "I would. I'd fight you with my **Dying Will**"

Reborn's smirk grows wider. He turns and walks to the door. However, before he enters, he turns around and shoots a bullet at the man's feet. "If you harm Tsunayoshi, or betray his trust, then I shall personally kill you."

"Reborn!" scolds Tsunayoshi.

"He's your responsibility brat. You've got to feed him, house train him, give him baths, clean up after him and take him for daily walks, understand?" And Reborn walks back in.

Tsunayoshi pouts at Reborn's receding back. "He's not a pet you know" he shouts, and Reborn just laughs. He turns to the man, "I'm sorry about them. I thought they would listen to me. You aren't hurt are you?" he looks over what he can see of the Vindice guard and can't see any injuries.

"No, I am fine thank you Tsunayoshi. They are just rather protective of you aren't they" assures the Guard.

"Come on and I'll show you to your room" says Tsunayoshi, pointing the way. The guard was rather surprised to find that what Tsunayoshi had said was true. The Arcobaleno and Vindice houses were exactly the same design. The man's bedroom was across the hall from Tsunayoshi's rarely used one.

Inside was a bed and a wardrobe and a desk, but little else. The guard puts Tsunayoshi down and steps into the middle of the room. "I'll be back, I promise" the guard says before stepping into a black portal that just appeared. Slightly scared that he wasn't going to return, Tsunayoshi stood there. After about 5 minutes the man returns holding a suitcase. He opens the suitcase and the first thing to come out is bedding- black and silver covers and pillow cases to match. Next come some clothes and a few odd trinkets and ornaments. "That's better" the Guard says.

"Wow, that was cool. I didn't know you could do that!" Tsunayoshi shouts in glee.

"Did they not tell you that we Vindice officers could do that?" Tsunayoshi shakes his head.

Downstairs a bell rings. "Ah, that means dinner is ready!" says Tsunayoshi before grabbing the man's hand and dragging him downstairs. "There's an elevator there that Verde installed if you want, but most people use the stairs, it's quicker." Tsunayoshi explains.

Tsunayoshi enters the dining room and is pleased to see that a place has been set for the man too. "Go on, sit down!" says Tsunayoshi, pushing the man down into his seat. Not wanting the man to feel weird, he decided to sit on someone else, Lal in this case. The Guard is surprised by how easily the woman accepts the boy onto her lap, and that none of the others are surprised by the actions.

"So" starts Luce "We have one question for you." The man nods. "What's your name?"

Tsunayoshi puts a hand in the air "It's…" and then lowers it, blushing in embarrassment "oopsie, I forgot to ask"

"You entered his house, forced him to come and live with us, dragged him down Mafia Row and you don't even know his name?" asks Colonnello unbelievingly. Tsunayoshi just looks away.

"It's Bermuda. Bermuda Von Vichtenstein"

* * *

><p><strong>Hopefully this is the first fic to include Bermuda in the Family fun! He is an Arcobaleno after all. Vindice means Avenger by the way. Those of you who have read the latest chapter will get the hints placed here, and those hints actually answer one question people have been asking me. Have the Arcobaleno been cursed and returned to their bodies in this World? <strong>

**Answer: No they haven't even been cursed. Yet. **

**I hope everyone enjoyed the surprise. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 29 May 2012.**


	28. We are Strong

Chapter 28

We are Strong

Guys, I have died and gone to heaven you have shocked me so much. Not only did this chapter have the most reviews for one chapter, beating the 28 from Iemitsu's chapter, but I also have some great announcements:

Erephen asked if she could translate this fic into **Polish** and I said yes, so if you prefer that language then look out for it in the future.

Bleach-ed-Na-tsu has drawn some awesome fan art. It's a scene from right at the start where Fon is feeding Baby!Tsuna from a bottle. The link is: : / / _** bleach-ed-na-tsu. deviantart # / d51v9on**_

Yoshikuni Itoe has also drawn some amazing fan art this time with a Chibi!Cast the link is here: ** yenmeii. deviantart art/ Mafia-Row-305481167**

Or of you want it in colour then this one: ** yenmeii. deviantart art / Mafia-Row-Coloured-305645880**

So I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did. The links are being weird, no matter how many spaces I put in. So you need the usual : / / at the start, and . c o m after devient art with a / afterwards. Maybe going through google would be better. Just make sure to look at them, they really are worth the effort.

I really had no clue that you all liked this story that much. So Thank you everyone *bows Gokudera style* I really am not worthy for all your love and support. You've all brought me to tears and made me smile when real life is currently being a bitch, so thank you.

So I've shocked you with an Iemitsu that wants to kill Tsunayoshi and by adding Bermuda into the mix, just what will I come up with next… *laughs evilly*

I think my choice for Arcobaleno accompaniment is obvious here- lol that makes them sound like food, yummy. And it's the time you've all been waiting for... so sit upright, be quiet, make sure your school uniform is in order and that you've been following the rules…

* * *

><p>The next few weeks for the Arcobaleno, now including the latest addition, were slightly awkward, however Tsunayoshi made the upmost effort to make sure that everyone was comfortable. Meaning he didn't ignore anyone in favour of the newest addition. He still slept in the same beds as the others, still sat on their laps for dinner and still followed them about the house and helped them with their work. Of course he didn't ignore Bermuda either but gave him time to settle in before jumping into his lap one evening for dinner.<p>

Smiling upwards he says "You don't mind do you?" And Bermuda found he couldn't say no to that face. Him, one of the Mafia Jailers and feared by all, could not say no to a small child. Really, what was the world coming to?

And the rest of the Arcobaleno weren't as scary as the rumours made them out to be in Bermuda's opinion. Nor was Bermuda in the other's opinion; he had a weird habit of calling everyone –kun, in addition to seemingly thinking of himself as above everyone. Not that that wasn't a common trait in this household. But instead of Verde's intelligence and Reborn's cat like confidence, Bermuda acted more like posh nobility.

When Tsunayoshi awakes this morning, he's nestled into Viper's arms, his back against her chest, his head tucked under her chin, almost as if she was holding onto a teddy bear. Not wanting to wake the woman, he carefully wriggles free and crawls off the bed. No matter how quiet he tries to be, the door still makes a sound as it opens, however, due to his small size, he misses Viper's automatic response of a Mist knife in the wall.

"Good morning" he sings sunnily as he skips into the dining room to the smell of bacon and toast. The others all greet him back in varying states of wakefulness- seems Luce hasn't made the coffee yet this morning.

"You said last night I was going to meet the Gate Keepers right, the... umm, I've forgotten their name," Tsunayoshi looks down, a finger to his lips as he tries to remember what their name is.

"Yes, you are going to meet the Gate Keepers, they were rather interested in your display with Bermuda a couple of weeks ago." Replies Luce turning around. She holds the plate of breakfast in the air and gestures with it to silently ask where he was going to sit this morning. Looking around, he decides to sit on Fon this morning. When they lock eyes, Fon smiles and pushes his seat back slightly to accommodate the extra person. Smiling, Tsunayoshi runs over and makes himself comfortable.

"Tsunayoshi, do you remember the weapon I was training with yesterday?" he asks. Since the little boy has a mouth filled with bread and bacon, he just nods. "Well, you will most likely be the target of that weapon. Their son likes to fight, I'm afraid. I'll keep him off you but just in case."

"You should let him fight Fon" says Reborn, eyes fixed like a predator on the cup of espresso Luce was currently making.

"That's one thing I haven't figured out yet" comments Bermuda. How he managed to eat without removing the bandages, no one was sure. "Do you want Tsunayoshi to fight or not? It seems to me that you are all conflicted on the matter. Are you scared that he'll be better than you one day?" they all notice the hint of laughter in Bermuda's voice at the last statement.

"Well actually it's because little Miss Sunshine and Rainbows over there doesn't think Tsunayoshi looks cute enough with a weapon in his hand and therefore won't give him one. She's obviously forgotten that weapons are not a fashion accessory." Explains Reborn sarcastically.

He growls as Luce looks him dead in the eyes and proceeds to drink what was obviously _his _espresso with a large smile on her face.

"What weapon would you give him anyway?" asks Bermuda. He wondered whether a fight was going to start up over this. It was clear that most of them believed their way of fighting was clearly superior to all of the others.

"He doesn't need a weapon, only enough martial arts to defend himself" says Fon diplomatically.

"Che, he obviously should use a hand gun" declares Reborn, glaring at the rest of them.

"Why would he want something as common as that?" remarks Colonnello, smirking at Reborn. "He should be trained the COMSUBIN way. He'd be prepared for more than just a silly handgun then. And if it was Lal teaching him, then he'd be better than anyone else." There was some truth to this- COMSUBIN did teach more than just the use of riffles after all.

"I think you are forgetting how common COMSUBIN training is as well. You are not Lal's only recruit Colonnello" drawls Verde, looking bored. But suddenly there is a gleam in his eye- a very mad scientist one. "If he wants something really unique then he should fight with science. Chemical warfare is quite big these days"

"Ha, you want him to fire a nuclear missile at every person he needs defending from?" scoffs Colonnello.

"I think you might have just proved Reborn's point of how stupid you really are." Comments Verde, rolling his eyes. Reborn smiles sharply at Colonnello over his win. "I meant that there are many chemicals that can do damage to the body. Acid burns aren't very pretty you know. And how many Mafioso would be prepared to stop the acid from burning further? The right chemical could stop a gun from working, burn through metal weapons like knives and even counteract poisons. Or if you want to be a pacifist then sleeping gas works just as well"

"That sounds like you are turning Tsunayoshi into a walking chemistry lab. He'd need to have far too many bottles of chemicals on his person. And with how clumsy he is, he'd just fall, break the glass and end up harming himself before the enemy even got to him" retorts Lal.

"I don't think Tsunayoshi needs a weapon since he will always have people around him who will protect him." Explains the Ex-Mafia Boss.

"Gloves" Whispers Tsunayoshi. He had been watching the argument, head turning to keep track almost like a tennis match across the table. "and Fire" He's not quite sure where that comes from, but he feels like that's the right choice. The others look between themselves and wonder if Tsunayoshi actually meant fire or _Flame_. They had kept him away from the Flames of Vongola and Shimon, however Tsunayoshi had been introduced to them by Bermuda. Not that Bermuda had ever told Tsunayoshi they were Flames, but transportation and moving chains didn't happen on their own, both required Flame Control to use them.

"Heeii" the little boy squeals. "Aren't we going to be late?" The rest freeze. Oh god. They were in for it now.

Moving faster than he's seen any of them move before, they all (okay not all of them, but the large majority, Mr Hitman just smirked at the chaos around him) grab him and run upstairs.

"You idiots! Get moving" shouts Lal, motivating them with a rain of bullets. Bermuda looks at this and sighs, having noticed that more bullets were wasted inside the house than on actual missions.

"Gya! where's my arm and knee pads?" screams Skull, items of clothing going everywhere.

"Where ever you left them last" responds Fon, calm as always, but still flinging items of clothes around Skull's room trying to find them too. He didn't want Skull to end up with broken bones like last visit.

In the meanwhile Tsunayoshi had been forcefully stripped (It was a good thing he was far too young to be embarrassed by being totally nude infront of Luce and Verde) and quickly stuffed into underwear. Verde knelt infront of him and placed on more of the defensive armour from before at Luce's insistence. He didn't want to be setting broken bones either. Noticing that there wasn't time to run to his room, Tsunayoshi shouts out to Fon, "Fon, Could you grab the one I told you about please?" Fon replies that he will, and goes into Tsunayoshi's room once he's helped Skull locate his own defensive clothing.

The moment the armour was on, Verde was quite literally pushed into a wall by Luce as she forced the boy into her latest outfit. Verde pushes his glasses back up his nose and settles cross-legged on the floor to the right of Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi give Verde a little helpless '_Help me!' _look as he is treated like a rag doll by the crazed woman. However Verde knows better than to get in her way- he'd already been slammed into the wall- and instead pulls out a diagram of the weapon Fon was talking about earlier "There is a button down here that activates the weapon's other abilities. If you can, stop him from pushing the button. However if he does attack before the others can get to you, then aim for this spot here" he points to an area and has to wait for Tsunayoshi's head to appear from through the shirt before the boy can get a good look. "When I modified the weapon I put a weak point there in case he ever went after me." Tsunayoshi blinks at Verde. "Well, I'm not being defeated by something I helped to create"

Tsunayoshi is sat on Luce's dresser stool whilst she attacks him with the hairbrush and Verde puts his shoes on for him.

"Guys hurry up. I want to live through this" shouts Skull, running into the room. "Yeah Luce he looks fine" Skull runs in, snatches Tsunayoshi away and runs down the stairs, nearly tripping in his haste.

Fon pokes his head in too "Good job guys. I'll see you later". Being calm as usual he makes his way down the stairs. Looking at the time worries him though- _Hmm, we might have to make a run for it_

"Tsunayoshi are you alright?" asks Bermuda. He'd heard a lot of shouting and screaming from upstairs and was worried about what treatment the little boy had been going through.

"Of course I am. I'm used to it by now" he replies, his face smiling and honest.

"Allow me to be of assistance" Bermuda says, mock chivalry in his voice. One hand behind his back, he half bows, presenting his other hand for Tsunayoshi to take. Tsunayoshi just looks confused "Take it" he orders, sounding more like the man Tsunayoshi had first met. Tsunayoshi grabs Fon's hand, who grabs Skull's in turn. "Hold your breath" Bermuda warns. A Black portal appears behind the Vindice Officer and he steps sidewards into it, dragging the others through too.

Tsunayoshi wasn't quite sure what he was expecting, however the black passageway that looked oddly like a star filled night sky was not it. And within 10 steps they were out the other side. Tsunayoshi looks around and realises he knows where he is. Half way down Mafia Row was the recreational centre that ran perpendicular to the rest of the row, running from north to south. They were at the southernmost point, near the only Port. If anyone wanted to get on or off the island, they had to go through the Gate. Hence the need for Gate Keepers.

The Gate Keepers stopped people who were not authorised from entering the Island, as well as keeping general peace over the Island. They were almost like police and were reason #3 that no crimes happened on Mafia Row. The first two being the Arcobaleno and the Vindice.

"Hn. Punctual as usual" says a man, clicking shut a pocket watch.

"Seems you made it on time then Tsunayoshi" says Bermuda before returning back through the portal.

Turning from where Bermuda was to the man who had talked first, Tsunayoshi looks the Gate Keeper over. He was tall yet slender with black hair and coal black eyes. And strangely looked slightly like Fon. He looks between the two and notices that they have the same hair colour and the same eyes.

"You had better come inside. Tea will be served in 5 minutes" says the man.

They follow the man into the house and Tsunayoshi feels like he's been transported to another world. The doors were made of paper and slid to one side instead of opening. The floor wasn't made of carpeting or tiles or wood but something else. They had to take their shoes off at the door. Tsunayoshi was too busy staring at everything to make a noise, which the pair of Arcobaleno were secretly pleased at. Making a noise in this house wasn't suggested.

Tea is served to them by a lady wearing what Fon calls a Kimono. When Tsunayoshi notices the weird way everyone else is sitting he copies them and hopes that his legs don't fall asleep. He doesn't know why, but this lady made it really hard to drink the tea. There was some sort of process to making this tea and Tsunayoshi was fascinated by it. When it came to accepting the tea, he just copied what the others had been doing. Apparently it was called a Tea Ceremony.

Once the tea was drunk the mood lightened and Tsunayoshi finally felt like he could breathe.

"I believe proper introductions are in order." Says the woman, her voice deep yet silky smooth. Her gaze though was directed towards Tsunayoshi, a gleam of interest hardly hidden at all.

"It would be my honour" says Fon. "This child before you is Tsunayoshi and he's under official Guardianship of the Arcobaleno."

Tsunayoshi smiles and waves at them. "Hello. It's nice to meet you"

"It is a pleasure to meet you too Tsunayoshi" says the woman. "My name is Kazuko and the name of my husband is Kurogane. We are very honoured to finally be able to meet with you. Especially after your… procession, with the leader of the Vindice."

"Indeed, we have been very interested in meeting you. Although you are not like I suspected you to be, especially living with the company you do." Supposes Kurogane, looking Tsunayoshi up and down.

This child was cute, it was fluffy, it was unguarded. It was weak. But somehow it had managed to survive with Carnivores like the Arcobaleno. And the pair wanted to know why. Why was this child not a carnivore?

"Tsunayoshi, why don't you go and play with our son, he's around your age. He was quite interested in meeting you too." Says Kurogane. Quite frankly interested was an understatement, and it had taken a rather forceful glare to stop their son from running after the pair. Hardly very disciplined of him, but they understood the feeling.

"Okay then" Tsunayoshi agrees and leaves the room after having received directions.

Stepping outside the room, Tsunayoshi lets out a big sigh. Everything had felt so stiff in that room, as if he couldn't make a mistake. And for a 4 year old, that was rather scary and hard to do. So he walks in the direction Kazuko gave him, hoping that their son would be a lot more fun to play with. Although that would only apply if he made it out of the house alive. No one had warned him of needles coming out of the walls. Luckily enough he had ducked under them in time to dodge. Staring at these needles quivering in the wall from the force they were launched with, he wondered where the hell they had come from. He hadn't seen anyone aim them at him.

Now he walks along the corridor keeping an eye on the walls, hoping there wouldn't be a repeat performance. And there isn't. The floor falls from underneath him instead. With a gasp he grabs the side of the floor and hauls himself back up. Panting to regain his breath he wonders why there are traps set up in this house and whether Kazuko sent him this way on purpose. His intuition suspects she did.

After eventually making his way to the garden, Tsunayoshi has had enough of this alien house and wants to go home. Traps in his own house was one thing, but in someone else's… He was just glad that he hadn't gotten harmed or else Luce would kill Fon and Skull. The worst wound he had received was pulling a muscle in his leg. Looking around the garden he notices a child laying on a tree branch, asleep and enjoying the sun. Wondering closer to the child, Tsunayoshi can tell this is their son since he has the same hair colour as Kurogane. When Tsunayoshi stops under the tree, the child opens one eye and looks down at him.

"It seems like he made it out in one piece Kyo. I can't see any cuts on him at all. Nor does it seem like he's affected by the poison in the needles either. He must have missed them all." Tsunayoshi jumps as someone else talks. From behind the tree the son is laying on comes another boy, slightly older than Tsunayoshi, with a rather weird hairstyle. It was him who had spoken.

The son in the trees opens the other eye and looks Tsunayoshi over, in exactly the same gauging way his parents had done. But rather than making Tsunayoshi want to shiver, it only made him stand taller and stare right back. Every person on Mafia Row had given him that appraising stare so it no longer affected him. Plus he remembered Reborn's words from his first trip outside: "Never show fear".

"Wao" is all the boy said before jumping down from the trees. Tsunayoshi notices a glint of sliver coming out of the boy's sleeve before the boy jumps to be infront of him, weapon raised to attack. Tsunayoshi screams and scrabbles backwards.

"Hey! What have I done?" asks Tsunayoshi as he rolls out of the way of another attack. Looking at the grass stains he knows Luce isn't going to be happy.

"Stand up and fight herbivore" growls the boy.

"What does that even mean?" shouts Tsunayoshi as he jumps over an attack aimed for his feet.

"He's calling you weak" shouts the other boy, who was leaning against the tree and making no move to help Tsunayoshi at all.

"Those other carnivores must be ashamed to be living with someone so weak" says the son, throwing an attack at Tsunayoshi's jaw. However Tsunayoshi doesn't like the sound of that. He wasn't going to let anyone say that. So when the weapon comes close to him, he grabs it and sends a punch to the area Verde told him to. The weapon falls to pieces.

The son stares at it, in total shock since on one had managed to do that before. The other boy gasps at this turn of events too: "You broke his tonfa…". Tsunayoshi smiles since Verde's tactic had worked, not that he was expecting anything else.

"Tell me your name herbivore" demands the son.

"I'm Tsunayoshi. And who are you?" Tsunayoshi says, smiling at the boy now he wasn't being attacked.

"He's Kyoya Hibari and I'm Tetsuya Kusakabe" replies the boy by the tree.

"Well, it's nice to meet, Gya!" tries to say Tsunayoshi but Kyoya sends another attack his way with his other tonfa. "Kyoya, stop attacking me!" he screams, rolling out the way once more.

"Stop being weak herbivore!" demands Kyoya before attacking once more. Just as he thought the fluffy haired child was being a carnivore, he reverts to being a herbivore and it annoyed Kyoya to no end.

Tsunayoshi flinches when his strained leg twinges in pain and stumbles backwards, slamming into a tree. Knowing there's nowhere else to go, he closes his eyes and lifts his hands to defend himself. He flinches when something lands on his stomach, but it's not the tonfa like he's suspecting. Nor does the attack arrive at all. After a few tense seconds Tsunayoshi opens one eye to find the tonfa a couple inches above his stomach. Opening both eyes he looks to see what has stopped the relentless attacks.

It's a small bright yellow puffball. It cheeps.

Kyoya had stopped attacking so he didn't hit the yellow bird that had fallen out of the tree and landed on Tsunayoshi. The tonfa even goes away as Kyoya lifts the bird up and stretches the wing out. It was clear that something was wrong with the bird, and it cheeps painfully as the wing is gently opened.

"Hn" Kyoya says after his examination. He pats the bird on the head and it cheeps happily at him. Tetsuya walks fearlessly up to Kyoya and takes the bird off of him.

Tsunayoshi stares on in relative shock. He hadn't expected that to happen. But somehow the bird just seemed to fit Kyoya. But judging by the boy, Tsunayoshi expected that it would be best for him not to say anything.

He agrees with that feeling when glinting eyes are turned back on him. "Heeiii" he screams and scrabbles away from the tree.

"Now now. I believe you've had your fun" says a very familiar voice. Tsunayoshi looks behind him to find Fon holding Kyoya off the ground by the back of his collar. Tsunayoshi laughs as the image reminds him of a cat and her kitten. Kyoya tries to swing at Fon but is helpless. No that that stops him trying though. However eventually he stops struggling, so Fon puts him back down.

"Tsunayoshi, are you alright?" asks Skull, running across the garden.

And Kyoya, in true tantrum fashion, attacks Skull to let out his frustration. However that makes Tsunayoshi mad. So before Kyoya can even get a hit in, Tsunayoshi stands infront of Skull and takes the hit.

"Don't you dare!" growls Tsunayoshi. He even brings out his scary glare. No one harms Skull if he's around. It stops Kyoya in his tracks, although the boy smiles instead of being scared by it. His parents watch too, and think they can finally see why Tsunayoshi is a carnivore.

"Hn." Says Kyoya and spins on his heels and jumps back up the tree. Kusakabe hands the bird back up and Kyoya places it on his shoulder. "Noisy Herbivore"

Tsunayoshi scrambles up the tree as best as he can and sits opposite Kyoya. "Ne, Kyoya why did you do that?"

"He was crowding and breaking the peace" replies Kyoya, not looking at Tsunayoshi.

"But what's wrong with that? People need each other you know. It's be lonely otherwise." He couldn't imagine the house without all of them in it. It's be far too quiet.

"That's what a weak herbivorous sheep would say" replies Kyoya.

"Just because I didn't fight back doesn't mean I'm weak. I just don't see the point in fighting." Replies Tsunayoshi. That's wasn't entirely true, he did have one reason for fighting.

"The strong are needed to maintain order and discipline" these were words that had been drilled endlessly into his head by his parents. "Without the strong, the weak would do what they wanted, break the rules and chaos would ensue."

Tsunayoshi thinks about this before a smile breaks out on his face. So Kyoya was just like him. He fought to protect. Maybe not in the same ways, but the basic ideas was still there at least. Even if Kyoya called it protecting the rules, rules were there to protect everyone else, so it was all the same in the end.

"Fon, can I have it please?" Tsunayoshi asks. Fon walks over and hands Tsunayoshi what he had been holding all this time. He didn't even have to reach up, Tsunayoshi was about on level with his head.

"I think you should have this" states Tsunayoshi holding the object out. It was a hedgehog, with purple fur and sliver spikes. Kyoya looks at it and Tsunayoshi swears that there is a small smile on his face. However he doesn't go to take it. Tsunayoshi pouts, but leaves the toy on the branch he was sitting on. Sliding off the branch and into Fon's hands, he waves at Kyoya and Tetsuya. Tetsuya is the only one to wave back though.

"Make sure to look after the bird okay. I think it should be called Hibird." Smiles Tsunayoshi before Fon turns and walks out of the garden.

Tetsuya doesn't comment when Kyoya picks the toy up and takes it to his room. The toy remains by Kyoya's pillow for a very long time.

* * *

><p>Fon, Skull and Luce didn't make it to dinner that night. However the shouting and screaming could be heard from the back of the garden. Tsunayoshi sat on the table, his arm and leg being bandaged by Verde, who has placed some of his specially designed salve on them first. Bermuda kept on looking through the kitchen window to see if he could spot the three missing people.<p>

"Does this happen often?" he asks. The others all nod.

"If you make Luce mad, she'll shout and scream at you until even you are scared of her. She's not afraid to use force either. These days, most of the times she gets mad are when Tsunayoshi gets hurt. Most of us just shut up and take her shouting, it passes quicker that way. Unless you are Reborn, who just likes to shout back at her." Comments Viper, who was providing illusionary pain relief for Tsunayoshi.

"You should be careful with what you do with that arm for a while" warns Verde as he stands back up.

"Well that'll be fine, kora. We're off to a restaurant tomorrow anyway" adds in Colonnello, patting Tsunayoshi on the back.

* * *

><p><strong>Bermuda's character is currently under development as we learn about him in each new chapter. I'd noticed over the past few chapters that he uses the honorific -kun for everyone, from Jager to Byakuran and Mukuro, however, apart from Hayato's Tsunayoshi-sama, I'm not going to use them. I think he sounds aloof and posh to me. Like he's a noble whose suddenly decided to visit a load of peasants and finds it funny how they live- weird analogy I know. But it's not the same way that Reborn presents himself as superior either. And whilst using a wide range of Vocab, it's not in the intelligently scientific way Verde does either. If you look back at the chapter with the noble image in mind you might see what I mean- like he's a Lord or something. <strong>

**And about Bermuda's flames. I've given him Night Flames even though he's not cursed yet. We can just say that the other Vindice taught him how to use them as a defence against Checker Face. **

**For Hibari's parents since we don't know who they are, I made it up. Kurogane means black steel apparently, which kind of suits their family. Plus it sounds like a strong name. His mother is called Kazuko since it's a variation of Kazu meaning Obedient or Discipline. This variant sounded best with Hibari. And now all three have first names starting with K. **

**So I'll meet you all at the restaurant next time, ne?**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 1 June 2012**


	29. So spend your time playing

Chapter 29:

So spend your time playing

"Tsunayoshi, move!"

Tsunayoshi is awake in a second and his body is moving even before he knows what's going on. It must be serious to make Verde shout like that though.

"_Target locked on" _

Tsunayoshi spins around from his position on the floor to find bright glassy red eyes locked straight into his. He watches as they move and seemingly focus on him even more, widening then contracting before growing wider once more and stopping.

"_Now proceeding to level 001."_

That voice was a synthesised one, definitely male, but with no real emotion in it.

"Verde?" asks Tsunayoshi "What game are we playing now?" Most games had levels in them. Level 1 was always the start; the easiest.

However when the wave of bullets came directly at him, he wondered where the easy levels had gone.

"Tsunayoshi, keep on running. I'll try to make it stop." Shouts Verde, fingers flying across the many keyboards infront of him.

This was a rare occurrence in Verde's underground lab. Most things usually went according to Verde's plans. He wasn't the best scientist for nothing. But today seemed to be one of the _off_ days. And one of the more dangerous breed of 'off days', for there was now a humanoid robot chasing Tsunayoshi all around the lab, bent on killing him.

Seeing he was running in the direction of one of the more explosive chemical experiments, Tsunayoshi backtracks and turns a different corner. The robot follows him, metal feet tapping against the ground as it runs.

"Why is this robot trying to kill me?" he asks, ducking under a table and crawling through it, hoping that the robot was too large to fit. Instead the robot just crouches down and continues to fire off its gun. Grabbing whatever was next to him- a metal tray- he deflects the bullets before his hand goes behind him, scrabbling for whatever he can get ahold of. As his hand clasps something, he risks a quick look behind to see what he had grabbed: a hammer.

"I made this robot to try and kill Reborn with" says Verde, not really concentrating on what he was saying and therefore telling the truth.

"You what?" screams Tsunayoshi, staring in shock at the scientist.

"He always was a smug Ba-" Verde stops himself before he swears "Reborn isn't a very nice person Tsunayoshi and I am trying to tell him off since words don't seem to penetrate his thick skull."

"But still!" Tsunayoshi tries to argue, still holding the metal tray up to stop the bullets from harming him.

"…and if I override this… enter in this password…" mumbles Verde to himself. "Got it!"

Tsunayoshi looks up as the rain of bullets stops and uses this opportunity to throw the hammer and knock the gun out of the robot's hands.

"So what's with the level 1 bit?" he asks, slowly coming out from underneath the desk, the metal tray still held defensively against his chest. This was the last time he visited Verde's lab late at night and accidently fell asleep there.

"Hmm? Oh that. This is actually a training simulation. However for someone like Reborn, if there's no threat of dying then he's not interested, nor will he learn anything from it. A sense of morality is often a good learning tool and can push one past their natural limits." Verde lied. It truly was for killing Reborn with. This robot was going to test the Hitman's strength so Verde had a more accurate and up-to-date analysis of the Hitman's current power. Hence why level one was so hard. Reborn wasn't weak after all, and if Verde needed data to back that up, the number of kills the Hitman had done was surely enough evidence.

"Oh, so that's where Reborn's 'Do it with your Dying Will' comes from" guesses Tsunayoshi. He had chosen to listen to his heart rather than his intuition for once and pretend that Verde wasn't lying to him.

What neither Observational Subject nor Observer were expecting was for the robot's eyes to light up red once more, for the camera in his eyes to lock back onto Tsunayoshi and for it to say:

"_Initiating Level 002" _

Level 002 seems to consist of knives. Very long, very sharp, very shiny knives. Tsunayoshi started to run once more.

"Verde make it stop!" screams Tsunayoshi, running past some botanical experiments concerning cross-breeding. The heads of the many cultivated flowers were quickly decapitated with one swing of the robot's metal arms.

"Verde, your Robot is too loud" complains Tsunayoshi. "If Reborn was fighting it, he'd be able to tell where it was immediately" Reborn had good hearing, especially when it came to enemies. Tsunayoshi himself couldn't sneak up on Reborn, even if he sounded silent to himself. So if this was to help Reborn with his training, then it wasn't going to be very helpful. Tsunayoshi thought he might as well give feedback whilst he was doing nothing but defending his life.

Verde stops typing for a moment and places a hand to his chin. "You are right Tsunayoshi. If this is to have any chance of being successful, then it does need to move silently." When Verde goes back to typing, Tsunayoshi dearly hopes it's not to fix that problem rather than to save him. Nor could Tsunayoshi tell if the 'being successful' bit really meant to train Reborn or to kill him. He hoped his intuition was wrong for once.

Tsunayoshi jumps over one knife, very glad for the training Lal had given him. He skids around another corner, and keeps on running for his life. "Verde! Do something" he helplessly shouts once again.

"Hmm, oh, that's right." Blinks Verde, who had actually been trying to solve the problem of making the robot soundless.

Another knife wizzes over Tsunayoshi's head as the boy ducks. Looking to see where the knife landed, he finds it's sunk into a pile of papers concerning Mukuro, Chrome, Chikusa and Ken. Tsunayoshi growls at that and hopes that the papers are still readable. He wants his friends to live, thank you very much. "Verde, Now!" orders Tsunayoshi.

"What do you think I'm doing?" shouts the scientist back. Pushing his glasses back up his nose, he attacks the keyboard with new vigour.

Turning another corner, Tsunayoshi finds himself running in Verde's direction. "Verde help me!" he almost cries, these knives coming far too close for his comfort.

Verde looks up at the sound of non-metallic feet and sees the incoming threat to his Observational Subject. Picking the boy up as he runs past, Verde spins on the chair at the same time. The knife beds itself deeply into his shoulder. This was the better option than having it bed itself into Tsunayoshi's skull, which it would have if not for his interference.

The robot stops running and faces them, the cameras in its eyes focusing once more. As the knives come flying at the pair, Verde holds out a hand and touches a piece of metal sat next to him. Concentrating, his flame flares around his hand and into the metal. In the middle of their flight, the knives change course and are attracted to the Flame charged piece of metal, cutting into Verde's arm in the process. The scientist hisses at the cut, but ignores it in favour of facing the malfunctioning Robot. Placing Tsunayoshi down on the chair behind him, Verde advances on the robot. All the knives the robot sends towards Verde are drawn to the Flame charged metal that Verde keeps on touching instead.

Since Lightening Flames had similar properties to electricity, Verde was turning the metal into a type of electromagnet. Like he always says, he's not going to be beaten by one of his own experiments.

So the robot, being a Smart Robot, decides to change tactics and flee. It doesn't get too far before Verde grabs it and an electric screwdriver undoes the screws in its leg, causing it to fall on the floor. "Electrico Thunder!" Verde hisses angrily. Since the lab was underground, the lightening couldn't actually get through to him. Instead it went through the lightening conductors in the garden and was directed underground. Once in his lab, the lightening was released and flew down from the ceiling into Verde's target like it was supposed to.

The robot's circuits couldn't take the overload and it stopped working altogether, collapsing into a steaming heap on the floor.

"Verde are you alright?" asks Tsunayoshi, jumping off the chair to run to Verde and cling to his leg.

Verde looks down at the boy and is glad to see no damage has come to him. He couldn't have a subject dying on him now. Or at least that's what he tells himself, ignoring the part that persists to tell him that he was worried for the _child,_ not the subject.

"I'm alright Tsunayoshi." He whispers, trying to ignore the pain of the knife in his shoulder. He frowns as he goes to pat the boy in reassurance, and instead drips blood over him. Tsunayoshi doesn't mind though, more concerned with the act of dripping rather than being dripped on.

"Sit Verde, sit!" cries Tsunayoshi, watching the man get paler by the second. He pushes the man into the chair before panicking over what to do next. Putting plasters on cuts was as far as his first aid knowledge went and he didn't have a plaster big enough to cover Verde's wound. "What are we going to do Verde?" he asks, tears falling from his face. Verde was a Doctor as well as a Scientist, and was usually the one to deal with anything more than a cut or graze. If Reborn or Colonnello ever got a bullet stuck in them, they went to Verde. (Not that Verde would tell Tsunayoshi, but he always made Reborn's surgery as painful as possible. He never had, and never will, like Reborn.)

"Go and get Luce. She can help me with this." He was not going to put Tsunayoshi through the trauma of doing the surgery needed- he was sure stitches were going to be required- nor was he going to ask anyone else to do it. Viper he might have considered, but she was asleep and he wasn't going to pay both the wake up fee and whatever fee she charged for her services. Fon was out of the house for a mission, and Skull was… well Skull. And he would rather die than asking Reborn or Colonnello for help. So Luce was the best option with Lal possibly coming in second. He didn't feel comfortable enough yet to ask Bermuda for help either.

"Luce. Okay. Luce." says Tsunayoshi to himself. But looking at the scientist, Tsunayoshi really didn't want to leave him. So he did the next best thing and shouted for her "LUCE!" however, a few moments later and he couldn't hear the sound of her coming. So, panicking as he was, he tried the one sure thing to get Luce here as soon as possible. "MAMMA LUCE!" She was there in a heartbeat. Tsunayoshi swore that he could shout that from the other side of the world and she'd still be there.

He runs to her and clings to the hem of her dress. "Luce! Luce. Save Verde please!" he looks up at her, his eyes sparkling from the tears.

"Of course I will. I thought something was up when I saw the lightening earlier." She reassures Tsunayoshi before she looks to where the scientist is. "Oh dear Verde, in a spot of trouble are we?"

"It's all my fault!" Tsunayoshi cries, and Luce looks at him out of the corner of her eye "Verde was only trying to save me, but he got hurt instead. Luce please help him!"

Luce smiled at that and instantly got to work. If Verde was harmed saving her cute Tsunayoshi, then she was more than willing to help him in return.

When Colonnello came to collect Tsunayoshi later on, he instead was met by the sight of Verde, Luce and Tsunayoshi covered in enough blood to make it look like they were going to a Halloween party. Verde, of course from being the injured one, Tsunayoshi from trying to help, and Luce from actually helping.

"Oi oi, what's going on here then, kora? Is Luce trying a dissection?" he laughs. The rest just glare back at him, causing him to shut his mouth immediately.

"No, the knife just cut a major artery so please be quiet whilst I work, thank you" says Luce, turning back to her work whilst listening to Verde's instructions. "Colonnello, you can take Tsunayoshi. Make sure to give him a bath before you go." She orders. Tsunayoshi looks too heartbroken to move, so Colonnello ends up physically carrying the child out of the room. But not before Tsunayoshi pats Verde on the head to make everything better.

An hour later and Tsunayoshi is being dragged down Mafia Row, carrying his cargo, his eyes fixed on the house the entire time.

* * *

><p><em>Welcome to Mafia Row Central!<em>

Mafia Row Central is the name for the road running from north to south, bisecting the actual Mafia Row. In the northern end of the road is the Recreational Centre. Here there is a range of shops from clothes shops, to gyms to restaurants. This is an important part of Mafia Row since Mafia Bosses don't want to have to leave the island and travel by boat just for a night out, or to try and relax. Most forms of a good night out, or relaxation, can be found here, from bars to cinemas to beauty parlours. In fact the only form of entertainment not found on Mafia Row, was the type that included buying another for the night. Any form of that was dealt with harshly by the Gate Keepers as a criminal offence.

There are lots of different types of Restaurants here on Mafia Row, ranging from Italian to French to Mexican to American. However all of the restaurants were owned by one man: Tsuyoshi Yamamoto. Of course this man didn't do all the work. He had a whole horde of subordinates to run, manage and cook in the restaurants for him, but he still oversaw everything that went on. However if you ever wanted to find the man, then there was one place to go, and that was a Japanese Sushi shop, Takesushi.

Takesushi was an interesting place. Go there on a weekend, and you'd never seen a happier and livelier place. Everyone was shouting and laughing and having fun. But go there on a weekday, and it was a different story. The mood was more solemn and quieter, a place for contemplation and reflection. Many customers could be found with a small cup of Sake and a plate of sushi, spilling their worries to the rather perceptive man. Of course, Tsuyoshi would just continue to cut Sushi as normal, giving the odd agreeing noise to show he was indeed listening. Which was how it should be done. You don't want someone staring you down when you are trying to sort your life out.

Tsuyoshi gave what advice he could from his interesting position. Tsunayoshi was not a Mafioso. Nor was he planning to become one. But like the rest of the Owners of the Recreational Centre, he knew about it, and knew what this Island was- a home for Mafia Bosses. He knew that every man, woman and child that walked into his restaurants was a Mafioso, most likely had blood on their hands and a gun in their back pocket. He knew very well that he was catering for criminals whilst not being one himself. So the advice he gave suited the situation and the people he was talking to. He could be impartial since he was not under the protection of any specific Family, and as a result he could also keep secrets. What one had said never passed his lips; the next time he saw you, as far as he knew, your life was sunshine and rainbows.

So how did an innocent man like him end up living on Mafia Row? He was recruited. Someone simply arrived on his doorstep and offered him this opportunity. Apparently one of his customers had been someone very high in Mafia Society and had recommended him for the position when Mafia Row had first been created not all that long ago. The money, the protection and the perks had all been too good to refuse. Plus, some people he knew had also been recruited too. So they decided that all of their Families should go together. They were under the protection of every Mafia Family. But the rule was that no one from their families could be targeted for recruitment. If on the off chance that one of them chose this kind of life, that was up to the individual to decide, but no active recruiting could be done.

It was into this very shop that Tsunayoshi was dragged by Lal and Colonnello, taking a very rare day off for once. The boy looks around and notices that he's back in an alien looking room, very similar to the one from yesterday. There were both tables and stools at a high counter. Lal and Colonnello go and sit at one of the stools, with Colonnello picking Tsunayoshi up and placing the boy on a stool.

"Hey, if it isn't Lal and Colonnello. I haven't seen you two here in ages." Comments a smiling, happy man. He had black spiky hair held back by a white band with dark, almost black eyes.

"Well we just can't stay away from such yummy food Tsuyoshi, you should know that!" Laughs Colonnello. "Where else is better for our date?"

Lal jumps up from her seat and aims her suddenly materialised shot gun at Colonnello. "We are not here on a date, you imbecile."

Colonnello just puts his hands in the air, laughing the whole time. When he sees her finger move closer to the trigger, he reaches behind him and pulls Tsunayoshi onto his lap as a type of shield. Only visible to Colonnello's trained eye- he was very adept at reading and watching Lal- Lal loosened her grip on the shotgun, and it was moved fractionally, so if shot, it would miss Tsunayoshi, just barely. Tsunayoshi just looks at the gun and pales slightly, remembering this morning. Both Arcobaleno notice this.

"Well, what type of date includes a small child?" asks Tsuyoshi, more than used to the pair's behaviour by now. "Lal put the gun away please. I don't want gunpowder in the food." Growling, Lal concedes and puts the gun away. Colonnello, however keeps Tsunayoshi on his lap, trying to comfort the child.

"We couldn't go anywhere without him coming along." Sings Colonnello, ruffling Tsunayoshi's hair. The boy smiles and giggles. "We've actually brought him here to meet you and your son. They are about the same age I think. And to taste the World Best Sushi of course"

Tsuyoshi takes a closer look at Tsunayoshi before smiling gently at the child. He extends his hand "I'm Tsuyoshi, it's very nice to meet you."

Being polite, Tsunayoshi shakes the man's hand in return. "Hello, I'm Tsunayoshi." He replies, smiling what he hopes is his normal smile.

Tsuyoshi, being the perceptive man he is, notices Tsunayoshi's behaviour, starting from the sad expression the child was wearing when he first arrived through the door to the slightly fake smile the boy had just given him. He knew exactly what this boy needed. "Why don't you go and see my son? I'm sure he's more exciting than an old man like me."

"Oh you're not boring" Tsunayoshi rushes to say, shaking his head and waving his hands.

Tsuyoshi smiles back at him and walks around the counter to hold open a door. "Come on, he's through here. I'm sure you two will get along fine." Tsunayoshi doesn't really have much choice when Colonnello places him on the ground. So following the man, he walks through a corridor and ends up in a garden at the back of the shop.

"Oi, Takeshi, come here" shouts the man to the boy at the far end of the garden. The boy turns, waves and runs towards them. As he gets closer, Tsunayoshi can see a huge grin, brown hair and warm brown eyes. Eventually he stops infront of the pair, panting slightly from the long run. "This boy is Tsunayoshi. I want you to play with him and get along alright." Says Tsuyoshi to his son. Takeshi nods and turns a bright smile to Tsunayoshi.

"Ha ha, nice to meet you. Come on then, let's go" Placing an arm over Tsunayoshi's shoulders he walks the boy back down the other end of the garden where he was earlier. "Hmm, we should play a game. Games always cheer me up" Tsunayoshi blinks at that statement- he was sure the smile was still on his face.

"What game do you want to play then?" asks Tsunayoshi, looking around the garden for inspiration.

"Haa haa, whatever you want to play." Laughs the boy, hand going to rest of the back of his neck. Tsunayoshi smiles and finds his mood lifting. It was hard not to be happy around this boy.

"Well, I don't really mind. What games can we play?" asks Tsunayoshi. His repertoire of games wasn't very extensive since it was limited to what the others had taught him.

"Well, I was playing baseball earlier, want to try that?" Takeshi asks, walking over to pick up his bat. Tsunayoshi wonders over too and takes a good look at the bat. He had seen one of these before. Reborn has used it on Skull one day when he had gotten bored of shooting at him. Reborn had been in a particularly violent mood that day. Seeing Tsunayoshi's confused face (since he didn't know the correct use of a baseball bat; Tsunayoshi was sure that Takeshi didn't want him to beat Takeshi up) Takeshi explains the basics of the game. "Someone throws the ball at you and you have to hit it with the bat." Tsunayoshi nods, finally understanding.

"Okay then, we'll play that." Smiles Tsunayoshi. He reminded himself to tell Reborn the correct way to use a bat later on.

Takeshi walks up to him and places the bat in his hands, arranging his hands and fingers correctly. Then he walks a little distance off and turns, ready to throw the ball. Takeshi had been watching baseball on the television, and whilst he didn't quite get all of the rules, or the point scoring system, he was determined to learn it one day. He thought that the players looked really cool when they were playing and everyone looked to be having fun. So he'd start with this basic version, and when he grew up, he was going to be a baseball star! He'd already had his Dad teach him the correct way the throw the ball.

"You ready?" he asks Tsunayoshi, but throws the ball anyway.

As the ball was 'speeding' towards him- from his point of view at least- Tsunayoshi had a feeling that playing baseball with Yamamoto was dangerous. Tsunayoshi decides that his intuition is right for once as he ducks under the speeding ball. He gasps, remembering doing the exact same thing earlier.

"Maa maa Tsunayoshi, you are supposed to hit the ball, not duck under it. Move it like this" and he pretends to swing an imaginary bat "It's got to go swish swish, and when the ball hits it should go CLACK!" Tsunayoshi just stares at the boy and wonders what on earth he is going on about. His intuition supplies that this behaviour is normal.

"Sorry, I'll try again" apologises Tsunayoshi before picking the ball back up and throwing it to Takeshi.

"That's the spirit." Agrees Takeshi, before bringing his arm back, his leg up and throwing another stupidly fast ball at Tsunayoshi.

"Heeii" screams Tsunayoshi before attempting to save himself- he ducks on the ground and holds the bat above his head.

"Maa maa, there's nothing to be scared about. If you hit the ball then it's not going to hurt you." Suggests Takeshi, posing for another swing again.

Another attempt is taken, and this time the bat and ball do make contact. But that's only because Tsunayoshi froze up with the bat infront of him- the ball hit due to Takeshi's god aiming.

When he opens his eyes again, Takeshi is directly infront of him. "Ya know, you are only going to get hurt if you aren't concentrating." He'd noticed the faraway look Tsunayoshi had been wearing since he arrived in the garden. Just because he acted care-free didn't mean he wasn't watching and observing. "No matter what else is going on, you've got to concentrate on what you are doing now, or else you might get hurt, and the others wouldn't like it if you got hurt" He was taking a guess, but he was sure that the people who Tsunayoshi lived with would be worried about him. He knew from past experience that not concentrating caused injuries- he'd been hit with the ball quite a few times by accident. "Look, at times like this you need to take in a breath, forget what's worrying you and let it go."

Tsunayoshi looks up with tears in his eyes. "B-but Verde's hurt because of me and I'm so worried about him!"

Takeshi put a hand to his chin and thought. That indeed was something that could be distracting. "But Verde wouldn't like it if you were sad because of him. You've gotta cheer up, ya know. I'm sure he's gonna live. You've just gotta look at the bright side of things. Worrying about him isn't going to help him get better is it?" Again he knew that from experience too. No matter how much he prayed, his mother still died.

"N-no, you're right. If I smile then Verde will smile too and get aaallll better," Tsunayoshi says jumping up to his feet and punching a fist into the air. He smiles at Takeshi. It was weird, but this boy made him feel quite calm too, maybe his personality was infectious? Or maybe because he seemed to be the same blue colour that Colonnello and Lal were, if Tsunayoshi had to take a guess.

So when the adults call the boys in for lunch, Colonnello and Lal are pleased to see that Tsunayoshi is laughing and smiling as brightly as usual. Tsuyoshi smirks, glad that his plan worked.

When it was time to leave again, Tsunayoshi walks over to Takeshi and smiles a truly bright smile. "Thank you Takeshi, for cheering me up. I want to give you these." And he holds out the cargo he had been carrying around with him. One was a blue black swallow toy with a white underbelly. The second was a brown dog with a blue jewel on its head. Again, Tsunayoshi had had the feeling to bring them with him when he had been told who he was going to meet. He had to wonder though why Takeshi got two animals, and Chrome and Mukuro had to share one. His intuition really was strange sometimes.

"Really, ahaa Thank you!" smiles Takeshi, crushing Tsunayoshi with a one armed hug. "Come back and play baseball with me, you were getting better!"

Tsunayoshi thinks that he might ask Takeshi to help teach Lal's trainees how to dodge. He'd certainly found out that the balls moved faster than they should. It had made for quite a scary experience. He'd have to find something other than baseball to play with Takeshi next time.

* * *

><p>"Really Tsunayoshi, I am fine. There is no need to follow me around like a duckling follows their mother." Says Verde, exasperated. Sure his shoulder was stiff and he might be on a few too many pain killers, but he didn't want to be followed as if he was about to collapse any moment.<p>

"No. It's my fault and I'm going to make sure you get better." States Tsunayoshi, staring straight into Verde's eyes, determination clear to see within them.

Luce smothers a giggle at the scene. Just who was the parent in this relationship? Bermuda observed carefully behind his bandages. His scene was sounding rather familiar to him. It seems that Tsunayoshi had a way of talking people into what he wanted. Verde was just as helpless as he had been when Tsunayoshi first came to 'take him home'.

"Now sit there and let me feed you. Luce said you shouldn't move that shoulder" The rest of the table burst out into laughter at that statement. Verde though didn't bat an eyelid or even blush- on the outside at least. He hid his confusion behind his blank stare as usual, waiting until later when he was alone to analyse the feeling that Tsunayoshi had just caused him to feel.

"Oi brat, I was wondering" starts Reborn. Everyone else stops laughing and looks at Reborn- this didn't sound good. They really didn't like Reborn's tone. It spelt disaster to come in the future. "Were you sick at all today?" Tsunayoshi shakes his head. "Did you faint at the sight of the blood?" again, another shake of the head. " did you panic or your body stop obeying you?"

"Um, I panicked a little, but that was because Verde was injured." He replied honestly. His pure little mind had no idea what Reborn had really been asking

Reborn smirks. "Hn, good boy." And Tsunayoshi smiles at the compliment. "Oh and get some good sleep for tomorrow. I'm taking you."

Tsunayoshi nods and goes back to the task of feeding Verde. Or at least trying to.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm, a bit of a weird chapter this one. I'm not really happy with it. I didn't have the motivation to write it at all. So when I started to type something out Verde's action scene was the result. Although I managed to tie the start into the middle quite well I think. It's kind of the reverse of the Manga: instead of Tsuna helping Takeshi, Takeshi gives Tsunayoshi advice. And all throughout this chapter, I've been typing Yamamoto instead of Takeshi, and my spell check keeps changing Tsuyoshi to Tsunayoshi. <strong>

**So can anyone guess who we'll be seeing next? The clue is in there, I assure you all. You've just got to follow the pattern. **

**And I hope everyone here in the UK with me and the Commonwealth had a good Jubilee Weekend. **

**See you all next time**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 04 June 2012**


	30. And Train Hard

Chapter 30

And Train Hard

Colonnello peaks his head into Verde's room and finds Tsunayoshi exactly where he suspected the boy to be. So creeping in quietly, he picks the sleeping boy up and carries him outside without disturbing the scientist.

"C'mon Tsunayoshi, time to wake up" Colonnello whispers as he walks down the stairs.

"Hmm, Colonnello? Where are we going? I thought I was going out with Reborn today?" asks Tsunayoshi sleepily. Once in the living room, Colonnello puts the boy down and smiles widely at him.

"Well you are. But today might be intense so I'm going to do a warm up with you, kora. We wouldn't want you to hurt one of your muscles." He explains as he walks over to the stereo.

"But Colonnello, I've only just woken up" complains Tsunayoshi, wishing to be back in the warm bed.

"All the more reason to do it!" counters Colonnello, pushing play. A dance track starts up and Colonnello turns to face Tsunayoshi. "C'mon, it'll be fun, kora! Start jogging- got to raise your heart rate up first."

Tsunayoshi rolls his eyes, sighs forlornly over the missing sleep and starts to copy what Colonnello is doing. Once he could be bothered to actually do it, it was rather fun. It was more interesting doing it to music. Especially when they started to sing along, not caring whether they were waking the house up or not.

"1,2,3,4 and swap to the other side. ~_Listen to the stereo tonight~"_

" ~_tonight tonight. Hurry up~"_

"_~Let's play again!~"_

Both turn around to find Skull sat there, cup of coffee in his hand, singing along to the song too. "Haha, don't let me interrupt, it looks pretty fun."

"We're going to slow things down now, kora. Hold each stretch for 8 counts okay" orders Colonnello, after shrugging his shoulders at Skull.

"Got it Colonnello" chimes Tsunayoshi, spreading his feet and stretching out his hand.

"Ahh how darling" coos Luce when she comes down to start on breakfast. It looked very cute since both were still in their pyjama's, or at least Tsunayoshi was. As usual Colonnello was topless with just the trousers on. She wondered whether it would look cute with them in actual sporting gear. Well, she'd find out later.

"Colonnello, this one's hard" whines Tsunayoshi, laying flat on the floor with his feet just above the floor.

Colonnello looks around the room quickly before hissing "Don't let Lal hear that. This is her favourite one because it's so hard"

"It is?" asks Tsunayoshi before his eyes narrow in concentration. "I had better be really good at it for her then"

Colonnello chuckles, a hard thing to do with his stomach muscles taught as they were. "That's the spirit, kora!"

They finished a few minutes later and ten minutes after that, breakfast was ready.

* * *

><p>Reborn, in his usual suit and fedora, and Tsunayoshi, in some sports clothes Luce had made him wear, walk back into Mafia Row Central. Reborn looks downwards at Tsunayoshi and clicks his tongue "Che, how are you supposed to walk when you can't even see over the damn thing?" he asks.<p>

Tsunayoshi holds his package closer to him, making sure that Reborn wouldn't take it away. "I am fine" he insists before tripping up the kerb. Reborn, of course, makes no move to save the boy and just continues on walking. Luckily Tsunayoshi caught his footing and didn't fall over.

"We're here" he states and Tsunayoshi looks up at the building. It was quite tall with lots of windows.

They walk inside and are greeted by a group of people. "You came Reborn!" shouts a man before walking towards them. The rest of the group of adults walk over too.

"Hn, of course I did. I don't miss appointments." Replies Reborn.

"True true. So who's this little guy with you? I don't think you've ever brought anyone along with you before." Asks the man, looking down at Tsunayoshi with bright green eyes. The man was very tall, well built with lots of muscles. He had short silver hair too and was wearing shorts, trainers and a sleeveless top.

When Reborn doesn't answer, Tsunayoshi takes it upon himself to do so. "I'm Tsunayoshi, nice to meet you" he smiles and the couple of women in the background sigh at his cuteness before pushing the man out of the way and crouching down to be on his level.

"It's nice to meet you too Tsunayoshi. I'm Mai Sasagawa and the swimming teacher here." This woman had chestnut hair and bright brown eyes.

"I'm Sakura Miura. I teach dance and gymnastics when I'm not running my Store." This woman had long dark brown hair tied up into a swinging ponytail and dark brown eyes.

"You should join my swimming class in a few minutes" says Mai excitedly.

Sakura pouts at her before saying "No, He could come and do dance with me"

The two men in the background sigh and decide to intervene before another shouting match was started.

"Darling, now is not the time and he doesn't even have any swimming gear with him." It was the first man who had spoken. He pulls her up by the elbow and pushes her towards a corridor. "You'd better go before you are late." He insists. She relents and turns to wave at Tsunayoshi before disappearing.

"I'm sorry about my wife, she gets a little excitable sometimes." He says. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Daisuke Sasagawa and the owner of all of the Sporting Facilities on Mafia Row Central. This is our main branch, but there is also a Ladies Only Gym, football fields, rugby fields, running tracks, boxing rings, tennis and basketball courts and other facilities for practically any sport going. There are also a few shooting ranges, including a clay pigeon shoot. I myself teach boxing as well as being a personal trainer for people in the actual gyms. I've also hired on people to teach those sports we lack and to work the hours we aren't here. And I believe you've already met my friend here" and Daisuke points over his shoulder to the man who was attempting to push Mai up some stairs.

"Come on Mrs Miura, it's not like you to be late" shouts some children's voices from the top of the stairs.

The man laughs "The children have spoken Mrs Miura"

Sakura stops fighting and waves at Tsunayoshi. "Bye Bye Desu~" before running up the stairs "yes yes, has everyone got their Tap shoes on?"

The man then turns around and Tsunayoshi finally realises who it is. "Hello Tsuyoshi" says Tsunayoshi.

"Hey there Tsunayoshi. Did you have fun with Takeshi yesterday?" he asks, stopping just infront of Tsunayoshi.

"Yes I did. He's really good at throwing a ball!" then Tsunayoshi tilts his head. "But what are you doing here?"

"Me? Well I teach both Kendo and Fencing. I would teach more but running all of the restaurants takes up most of my time" the man laughs and rubs the back of his neck, a gesture he'd seen Takeshi do a lot.

"And you had best be leaving too. You've got to open Takesushi don't you?" asks Daisuke.

"Yes, I do. Well it was nice to see you again Tsunayoshi. If you ever want lessons, give me a call okay" Tsunayoshi nods and watches as the man leaves the gym.

"Extreme run!" comes a shout from far away.

"Onii-san. Wait up!" comes a girls shout.

"Ah, I know. Extreme carrying!" comes the male shout once more. There comes a girl's excited giggle before a scream of joy.

The pair of children come running in and Tsunayoshi finds that, like the conversation suggested, a boy was carrying a young girl.

"Daddy!" the girl shouts and the boy stops infront of him. Daisuke picks the girl up.

"And where have you two been?" he asks laughing.

"I was following Onii-san but I couldn't keep up." Whines the girl. She had light brown hair and huge brown eyes. The brother was a little older than Tsunayoshi, with silver hair and grey eyes.

"I got bored waiting so I went on an Extreme run." Informs the boy. It was quite a common sight in this gym to find the boy running down the corridors shouting 'extreme'. Sometimes the girl would be trailing behind, not able to run as fast, nor for as long as the boy. However the brother always made sure to wait for her, or carry her if she got too tired. The boy looks around the room and notices Reborn.

"Ah, Reborn. Come for another extreme workout?" the boy asks, running over to Reborn and giving the Hitman a fist bump.

Reborn smirks. "Not today Ryohei. Actually I've brought along a friend who wants to do a very extreme workout with you. Think you can handle that?" Tsunayoshi didn't like that look. It was Reborn's training look. He was starting to guess why Colonnello had forced him to warm up that morning.

"EXTREME" The boy bellows. Tsunayoshi winces from the loudness of it. "Of course I can! Let's go!" Tsunayoshi ends up dropping what he was carrying as he is forcefully pulled along by Ryohei.

First on the extreme training regime: running up every set of stairs in the building… and then back down to the start. Running up and down stairs was more tiring that he thought it would be, however Ryohei seemed used to the long run. Next he dragged Tsunayoshi back up one set of stairs and burst into Sakura's dance lesson.

The dancers in the room look in his direction and smile before continuing with what they were doing. They were all around 7 and used to these random interruptions by now.

"Hmm, I've never seen this type of dancing before" comments Tsunayoshi. They were staying really still and moving only their feet. However this weird tapping sound happened every time one of them moved.

"It's called Modern Tap Tsunayoshi. There is metal on the bottom of the shoes to create the sound." Explains Sakura

"You guys are too slow. You've got to be more extreme" roars Ryohei, running over to the stereo. He spins the dial for the tempo and the music gets faster and faster.

"Speed round girls!" claps Sakura. The girls stopped the dance they were doing and started on the basic steps matching the speed of the music. It was all good practice for their footwork skills in Sakura's opinion. Tsunayoshi looks at their feet and attempts to copy what they are doing before falling over due to lack of balance.

"OOII You can't rest now Tsunayoshi! We've got more to do yet" shouts Ryohei grabbing him and running out of the door.

They ran up the next set of stairs and into what was the gym. There wasn't anyone in at this time since most of the Bosses would be working. Ryohei runs over to one piece of equipment and pulls Tsunayoshi onto it.

"Just stand there." Ryohei jumps around to the other side of the machinery and presses a button. Tsunayoshi jolts at the machinery starts to move and he feels himself moving backwards. He takes one step then another and before he realises it he's running. Ryohei just stands there cheering and pressing the speed button.

"Um Ryohei, I don't think I can run any faster" warns Tsunayoshi running as fast as he can.

"Nonsense! Real men push their limits. Just remember to live life to the extreme!" shouts Ryohei, pushing the button once more.

"Ryohei! You aren't supposed to be using this equipment!" shouts a man's voice from their right. Tsunayoshi takes a quick look over and sees it's one of the many assistants he's seen around the place- they all had the same yellow shirts on. "Stop the machine right now!" the man didn't seem to be very happy. However at that point, since Tsunayoshi wasn't looking at where he was going, he trips and goes flying off the end of the treadmill.

Reborn, however, is there to catch him before he slams into a pillar. "Hmm, so that's how fast you can run. It's better than most children your age." Tsunayoshi smiles at what is most likely a compliment in disguise from Reborn. "However it can still be improved" and Reborn smirks at him.

"I'll work hard Reborn" assures Tsunayoshi. He didn't want to disappoint Reborn after all. He turns to look at Ryohei who is currently receiving a telling off from the assistant. "Oh dear" Tsunayoshi says.

"Oi Ryohei. That's enough running. Tsunayoshi's a fighter too you know" remarks Reborn, an evil glitter in his eyes. Ryohei's eyes light up at that and Tsunayoshi finds himself once more being dragged along the corridors.

When they stop once more Tsunayoshi finds himself in the middle of a boxing ring. "Right. Put this on" demands Ryohei, handing over some head gear. Since Boxing was his favourite sport, he knew the most about it, including all of the safety regulations. "And this" he adds, handing over a mouth guard. Finally he sits infront of Tsunayoshi and grabs his hand before starting to wrap a white bandage around it. Tsunayoshi had noticed that Ryohei's hands were already bandaged from the moment the boy had first run into the foyer at the start. Finally two red gloves are placed onto his hands.

"Yeah! Let's have an extreme match!" announces Ryohei at top volume.

"Oh, Onii-san, this is where you were" says the girl as she walks in.

"That's right. Me and Tsunayoshi are going to have an extreme boxing match Kyoko! Are you going to watch?" asks Ryohei, running over to the side of the ring closest to her.

Kyoko just sighs. "Onii-san, I don't see why two men would fight in their underwear with oven gloves on. It just doesn't seem right." Tsunayoshi giggles at her strange description of Boxing.

"What? It's a battle of manly spirit. How can you not see that?" asks Ryohei astounded.

Ryohei turns to face Tsunayoshi when he hears the ding of the bell. Tsunayoshi looks over to find that it was Reborn who had interrupted the siblings' fight and rung the bell. "Normal rules apply, 3 minute match." He announces.

Tsunayoshi ducks as Ryohei aims a jab at his shoulder. "Reborn! I don't know how to play this game!" screams Tsunayoshi, jumping away from another punch.

"It's simple. Punch him. All your hits must be above the belt though" Reborn supplies, watching with sharp interest.

"What does that even mean?" Asks Tsunayoshi attempting to punch Ryohei back.

"It means no hitting below the belt" informs Reborn. Tsunayoshi rolls his eyes- trust Reborn to answer with the exact same thing with just different wording.

"What belt? He doesn't have one on" claims Tsunayoshi meeting Ryohei's punch smack on. His arm goes numb from the force in Ryohei's punch.

"Don't hit him on his hips or below." Sighs Reborn finally giving the information away. When he sees what attack Tsunayoshi is setting up for he adds in "No kicking either, fists only" Tsunayoshi gives him a _what the hell?_ Look before ducking under another punch. "Tsunayoshi! Attack back. Defend yourself or are you just a wimp?" shouts Reborn. The shock of the shout forces Tsunayoshi into action and he punches upwards from his crouched position, smacking Ryohei in the jaw and sending him stumbling a few steps backwards.

Ryohei laughs and cheers "YEAH! Extreme punch." And comes forwards to attack Tsunayoshi with more vigour than before. During their sparing match, Tsunayoshi gets in a few more hits, but none of them were as good as his first one. However, he does land more punches that Ryohei does. However it's not because Ryohei lacks skills- he's very good for a 5 year old- but because Tsunayoshi is far too good at dodging hits.

Eventually the bell rings and both lower their fists. "That was an awesome match to the Extreme!" decides Ryohei punching his fist into the air. "I've got to get better though, you dodged too many of my attacks. I know! Come back after I train some more and we'll have a rematch."

Tsunayoshi laughs "alright then" He didn't mind since it seemed that Ryohei didn't want Tsunayoshi to punch back, just dodge- he could handle that.

"NO! I've got an even better idea. JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!" Tsunayoshi didn't know anyone could shout that loudly. It was amazing that Ryohei never lost his voice.

"Heeii" screams Tsunayoshi, backing away from Ryohei who seemed to be on fire. "I couldn't do that!" He quickly drops the gloves, mouth and head guards and exits the ring, chasing after Reborn who had already left.

"OII Tsunayoshi. Join the boxing club!" insisted Ryohei as he runs after Tsunayoshi. They eventually arrive back at the foyer. Daisuke grabs his overactive son and stops him from chasing Tsunayoshi.

"Hey son, had an extreme day?" he asks. Ryohei certainly seemed even happier than usual.

"Of course. Every day is extreme!" Ryohei replies and both father and son laugh loudly.

"Um, Ryohei? I wanted to give this to you. To say thanks for such a fun day." Says Tsunayoshi carrying a huge stuffed toy. It was about the same size as he was. Ryohei's eyes sparkle as he sets his eyes upon the Kangaroo with Boxing Gloves on.

"YES! Extreme toy! It's just the right size to shadow box with too!" he shouts taking the kangaroo out of Tsunayoshi's hands. "I shall name him…"

There is a very long and expectant pause. It sounded like Ryohei was thinking really hard to come up with a name for it. Tsunayoshi was sure it was going to be something really interesting

"Kangaryuu!" Ryohei announces. Tsunayoshi laughs at the simplicity of it.

* * *

><p>As soon as he arrives back home, Colonnello grabs him and lifts Tsunayoshi onto his shoulders. "C'mon Tsunayoshi" he says. The little boy is too tired to do anything but let Colonnello carry him.<p>

A few moments later, they arrive at a clearing and Colonnello puts Tsunayoshi down. He throws down a blanket and the two lay down on it, just staring up at the sky through the canopy.

"Why do I get the feeling we've done this before?" he asks.

"Because we have, kora" replies Colonnello. "When we first got you. I came out here and you painted my face. Even then you had done a better job than I had." Colonnello almost whispers as he smiles gently, not wanting to destroy the peace of the place.

"So what are we doing here now?" asks Tsunayoshi, eyes trailing the clouds above.

"Well sometimes, you need to do this. You just need to stop and let your body recharge. If you keep on working you'll wear yourself out. Why else do you think Lal even allows days off?" Colonnello explains.

"That's true. But it's nice… to just lay here like this… with you." Says Tsunayoshi as his eyes slowly close.

Colonnello looks over to find he's fallen asleep.

A little while later, Colonnello carries the sleeping child back through the forest and into the house.

"Tsunayoshi you're!" shouts Luce before noticing that he's asleep and shutting up. She doesn't want to wake him. "You should put him to bed Colonnello. At least tomorrow will be less effort"

Colonnello just looks nervously at Luce, highly disbelieving. "Luce, your shopping trips are not relaxing in any shape or form."

He walks up the stairs and feels sorry for Tsunayoshi. _He's going to be dressed up like a doll tomorrow. And not just by Luce either._

* * *

><p><strong>Yay, I like this chapter better than the last one. Not a lot of Kyoko here, but she'll appear later on. I've actually had fencing lessons, which were rather fun. I did it for over a year.<br>**

**And I'm starting to like MY Bermuda a lot better than the manga one. I nearly started crying when I read the latest chapter- he's so mean. It makes you wonder if Reborn's ever going to be an adult again. **

**Join me and Luce next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 07 June 2012 **


	31. Before putting on your Work Clothes

Chapter 31:

Before putting on the work clothes.

"Good Morning Tsunayoshi!" shouts Luce as she slams open the bedroom door.

Tsunayoshi rolls over and groans. What was it today with women and loud entrances? There had been a similar scene earlier on this morning at the Marvellous time of 4:00AM.

"_Oi you Lack-wit. Get up and out of bed already." _

"_Ahh, but Lal, I was having such a nice dream. You and me were on the beach, watching the sun set together"_

_Lal swings her arm out and to the side, slamming into the wall to her left. "The only thing me and you would be doing on a beach is terrain training and sand crawling. Definitely not something as time wasting and useless as watching the sun set. Now get out of bed before I make it so you can never see another sunset for a week."_

"_Yes Ma'am"_

"_Lal, don't be so loud in the morning" Tsunayoshi whines_

"_Oh, do you want to come along as well?"_

Tsunayoshi shivers at remembering the narrow escape he had had this morning. But still, why did Luce have to burst in loudly too? Why couldn't they be like Viper and be nice and calm?

Tsunayoshi doesn't have time to ponder that question as the covers to Colonnello's bed are whisked off and the cold air covers his body. Knowing trying to resist is futile, he sits up and rubs his eyes. "Good morning Luce" he mumbles.

* * *

><p>45 minutes later and a lion is once again walking down Mafia Row. And where is this lion off to today?<p>

A Tailors.

But this isn't just any Tailors. This Tailor caters specifically to Mafiosi and offers suitable services. Everything is hand made to fit perfectly, since Bosses always need to look their best. These suits come in any shape and colour a Boss wants; short sleeves, long sleeves, tails on the jacket. But the most important bit is what goes on _inside_ the suit jackets, or indeed any other clothes made by this company. Bullet-proofing is the most common addition, as are stab proof vests. Pockets where knives and guns can hide are nearly always included as are pockets for ammunition. These special pockets can be found in jeans, hoodies or any other civilian wear as well as the suits since Mafiosi are nearly always on duty.

For the woman, similar protection measures are available, as are the multitude of pockets, but these are instead incorporated into suits, dresses and skirts. Handbags can be both stylish and useable, with secret pockets for accessing weapons quickly. This Tailor also makes dress gloves with disguised brass knuckles, hairpins with tiny knives or broaches with sleeping gas in them.

And the best thing was, none of it was visible. To anyone's eyes, these modifications couldn't be seen. The fabric didn't look bulky, the movability wasn't compromised, there were no bulges to show where guns were kept.

Luce stops a little ways away from the door of the shop and giggles "Remember what I told you?". She fluffs up the fur on his hood and lowers it over his eyes. Little does she know that this was exactly what Reborn had done before.

Tsunayoshi nods and takes off at a run. Luckily enough he doesn't trip on his way there. He bursts into the shop, throwing the door open and stands infront of the counter. Raising his hands in the air, he growls

"Gao~!"

One second passes, then another and finally one more before the woman he growled at blinked, screamed and ran to hug him.

"That was so cute. This outfit is super adorable!" she looks up as Luce walks into the store "Did you make this yourself?" her eyes sparkle.

Luce looks proudly at Tsunayoshi. "Yes I did. It took a while, but doesn't it suit him and Natsu?"

When Tsunayoshi raises Natsu to his face and rubs his cheek against the mane of the lion, the seamstress has to agree.

"So this is your shop Sakura?" Tsunayoshi asks. He recognised this woman from yesterday- the dance and gymnastics teacher.

"That it is Tsunayoshi" agrees Sakura. "I do most of the design work and deal with the customers when they want to order something special. My husband does all of the accounting and the boring bit" she laughs "All of my helpers help to make the clothes, cut the cloth up, do the stitching and everything else basically. I work on the really important pieces or anything that's hard and tricky to do. It's a lot of fun."

Tsunayoshi looks around the shop. "Wow… so you helped to make everything in here?" he asks in wonder. The clothing was really pretty.

"Yep. Would you like to try something on?" it was a good thing that Tsunayoshi had his back to the two women. The hungry look they were giving him might just have made him run out of the shop in fright. His intuition causes him to shiver though.

"Um, okay then" he agrees. It was most likely the reason Luce had brought him here in the first place. So he'd make Luce happy and go along with her wishes.

"KYAAAA!" shout both women and suddenly there is a flurry of activity infront of him. Luce pushes him into the changing area away from the front of the shop so no one could spy on his cuteness. After that, she leaves to go and decide with Sakura what to put Tsunayoshi into.

Tsunayoshi smiles, glad Luce is having so much fun. He blinks when something yellow cartwheels in and lands infront of him. It's a yellow… puff-ball… thing with a mask on.

"Grr" it growls, causing Tsunayoshi to fall backwards in fright with a squeaky "Heeii"

"Hahi? I'm so sorry desu~. Haru didn't mean to scare you." The mask is removed to reveal a young girl, about his age with brown hair and eyes. A yellow gloved hand reaches towards him to help pull him up. He accepts her hand and gets pulled up by a strangely strong grip. "Haru is the Namahage. Do you like Haru's costume?"

Tsunayoshi looks the girl over and realises he doesn't have a clue as to what she is supposed to be. He'd never heard of the Namahage before. "I do like the costume, but I don't know what a Namahage is."

Haru takes a large step backwards with a dramatic gasp. "It can't be so. You don't know what a Namahage is?" She made it sound as if the world was going to end. Tsunayoshi shakes his head.

Haru puts on a serious and scary face, up-lighting her face with a torch she pulled out from under her costume. "The Namahage comes to your house with a knife in one hand and a drum in the other. They ask if there are any naughty children around. It's so scary desu~"

Hmm that did sound scary. "A-and what if you have been bad?" he asks shakily.

And suddenly the scary atmosphere is gone, the torch disappeared and Haru is thinking. "Hahi? Haru doesn't know. Haru is a good girl."

"Oh, is that your latest Haru?" asks Luce kneeling infront of the girl.

Haru nods "Haru is the Namahage!" she announces.

Luce fakes a gasp. "Oh how scary. But I'm afraid that Tsunayoshi has been a good boy."

"Tsunayoshi? Oh my God desu~. Haru never asked for you name." Haru turns to Tsunayoshi and bows.

"Haha, That's alright Haru. It's nice to meet you" says Tsunayoshi. He tilts his head and the hood falls over his eyes. He lifted one paw-shaped glove to move it and is unexpectedly bowled over by a hug.

"You are so cute. You're not a scary lion at all." She screams into his shoulder.

"Now now Haru. Could you get off of him please? Mummy has some clothes we want him to try on." says Sakura coming back with a pile of clothes laid across her arms.

"Hai desu~" says Haru letting go of Tsunayoshi and taking a few steps backwards.

"That was my daughter Haru, she likes to cosplay and dress up. I help her make the costumes, but she tells me what she wants. I managed to talk her out of using real straw for that costume. In case you are wondering, it's a Japanese tradition. Whilst Haru was born here, like Takeshi, Ryohei and the others, we Japanese from Mafia Row Central like to remember out roots, so we teach the children Japanese traditions and the language." It was reasonably safe to give birth to a baby here. Whilst there wasn't a hospital, only women gave birth, so Shamal was happy to help. If anything went wrong the Bovino's had the facilities to help.

"Wow, that's cool." Compliments Tsunayoshi.

"Yeah, it's nice. So that's why the first item I've got you is a Yukata!" she says whilst presenting the piece of cloth.

So whilst Tsunayoshi had guessed that today he would be playing dress up, there were two things he had not been expecting. The first was for Haru to also dress up in complimentary outfits. The second was for there to be a camera. After being dressed up time and time again, he would be forced to pose with Haru for some pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

"Ahh Tsunayoshi" happily sighs Luce "You make such a cute model. You're a natural."

That may be so, but he wasn't exactly trying all that hard; all he was doing was smiling or pouting… basically whatever he felt like whilst wearing the outfit. When it came time to wear a suit, he put his 'Reborn' expression on, pretending to be mysterious and cold. When it came for the army clothes, he pulled off the salute he'd seen the others give Lal. When it came to sports, he shouted a loud 'extreme' whilst punching the air just like Ryohei was doing.

And then came a range of outfits containing lots of fluffy material. He was placed back into his bunny outfit, back into his lion outfit and placed into some new ones too. He became a cat, a dog, a squirrel based upon Cosmo's appearance, and even a cow, although he didn't know why that animal in particular.

Whilst they had him in the bunny outfit, Luce gasps and digs around in her handbag. "You won't believe what Tsunayoshi did last time he was in this outfit. See, he's rather creative himself, especially when it comes to face-painting. He's even better at it than Lal and Colonnello are. He got into Elena's make-up and decided to become a field of flowers to show off his camouflage skills to Lal. And this is the result." She pulls out a small piece of card. On it is a picture of him poking his head out of the flowers, the recently caught knife in his hands.

"Oh~ that was fun. When did you take that?" Tsunayoshi asks, also looking at the picture.

"Whilst you were busy complimenting Lal" she smiles.

"Wow this is really good Tsunayoshi" compliments Sakura. "You could earn some money with face painting, you know"

"Tsunayoshi should do Haru's face too. Haru wants to look like flowers" cheers the excitable girl.

The sports shoot was interesting too. Haru was already quite good at gymnastics, taught by her mother. She showed of her skills whilst her mother was taking photos and Tsunayoshi was amazed with what he saw- she was really good for a girl her age. Whilst he could do some of the moves, like forwards rolls, they were more defence, dodging and escaping tactics rather than specifically Gymnastics.

It was at the point that he was dresses up as a cow that something unexpected happened. The temperature dropped, the air became tense and a sense of danger filled the atmosphere. Tsunayoshi and Luce ignored it, having built up a tolerance by now. However Sakura and Haru didn't have the resistance like they had and frozen in their tracks.

All turn around to find Reborn leaning against the wall, fedora pulled down low as usual.

"Oi Luce. Go home" he orders.

Luce puts fists on her hips and defiantly asks. "And why should I?"

Reborn takes a look out of the window and says calmly "Some people are being rather naughty and need a good smack. I thought you'd like to do the honours"

Luce sighs and rubs a hand across her forehead tiredly. "Alright I'll go. Come on Tsunayoshi, time to leave."

"Go now" Reborn orders. "I'll watch the brat."

Grabbing her handbag, Luce walks out of the shop after saying her goodbyes to Haru and Sakura. Both Miuras look at Reborn and Sakura pushes the frozen Haru up the stairs into the 'home' part of the building. Reborn was always business whenever he came in this shop.

Reborn walks over to Tsunayoshi and looks him up and down. "Reminds me of the Bovino's." he mumbles before turning sharp eyes to Sakura and pushing his fedora up to see her better with. "Tsunayoshi, I told you I'm going to get you some _proper_ clothes and now's the best time. Mrs Miura, I want you to make a suit for him. A _proper_ suit. Understand?"

The woman nods and scrabbles for a pad of paper and a pen. "Of course Reborn sir. Are there any specifications you'd like?"

"As much protection as possible. This brat has a habit of getting in the middle of trouble. And knee pads in the trousers, he's always falling over. I want a bullet proof vest, that had better be stab proof and chemical proof too." Explains Reborn. He wasn't planning to give Tsunayoshi his own gun yet so he didn't need any pockets to hide them in. Bullets and knifes covered the normal mafia fare he might encounter whilst being chemical proof guarded against anything Verde or the Bovino's might use. Sadly there was no protection from Flames, but so far very few knew about them, so it shouldn't be a problem.

"What colours do you want it in Reborn?" Sakura asks after having written all that down. "Black of course. Oi brat what colour do you want the shirt in?" he asks Tsunayoshi

Tsunayoshi thinks for a moment before replying "Orange"

"Orange it is then" smiles Sakura.

* * *

><p>"There's no way I'd let you do that!" Luce is surprised to hear that that was Skull of all people.<p>

"Ha, isn't that a little bit discriminatory? You've allowed him to go watch Army training. I do not quite see what is the difference." That was Bermuda, his voice ever calm as normal. Although Luce thought she could hear the annoyance- his tone was a little more sarcastic than usual.

"Tsunayoshi wasn't involved in that, he was just watching" explains Skull as Luce opens the front door.

"Nor will he be involved" counters Bermuda.

"I'm afraid I agree with Skull. I don't think Tsunayoshi is quite ready for an experience like that yet." Says Fon.

"But you've allowed him into the most dangerous houses in the Mafia?" asks Bermuda unbelievingly.

"We were always there to make sure no trouble came about." Defends Viper, apparently taking the other's side too.

"As I shall be. I won't let the boy out of my grip. There is nothing for you all to be mother-hening over." Luce walks into the living room to find what the argument is about.

"LUCE" shout all the others (apart from the soldiers who are out of the house) as they turn to face her.

"Will you tell him-"

"Will you explain to them-"

"Why Tsunayoshi"

"Why Tsunayoshi"

"Should not be allowed…"

"Should be allowed…"

Luce's eyes widen as she hears the reason for the argument.

"I'm obviously not the only one considering this." Bermuda states after telling her his plan "You heard what Reborn asked Tsunayoshi the other day. He obviously plans to do so too"

"I know what you mean. But I'm going to put my foot down on this. I will not let him do so until he's older and understands a little better. Let's wait another few years."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Tsunayoshi comes running in. "Ahh, Luce, you never dressed me up like this. I need an outfit to look like Bermuda too" he smiles happily and goes to sit on said man. "I'm going to need two capes: one to look like Viper and one to look like Bermuda. Oh! And a hat too like his. And you've got to get me some robes like Fon has and some leather like Skull and a lab coat to match Verde's and a big hat like yours too."<p>

Bermuda laughs as he bounces Tsunayoshi on his lap. "Is there anyone you don't want to dress up as?"

Tsunayoshi thinks about this. "Um, just no more wigs like for the Cervello. It was hot and itchy."

"That's understandable." Says Fon walking in with a glass of juice for him "Maybe we can get you an outfit like mine when we go visit some friends of mine tomorrow."

"Really?" he asks excitedly, almost spilling the juice as he suddenly moved.

"Hey, be careful." Reminds Fon. "If you're good, I'll ask them to make one for you"

"Okay. I'll be good!" Tsunayoshi agrees.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope last times clue makes sense now. Haru loves to cosplay after all, and Mafiosi always need clothes. So any guesses on who Fon's friends are?<strong>

**And here is hint #2 at my next mini arc. Any guesses?**

**Join me for another house visit.**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 10 June 2012 **


	32. And Fulfilling your Orders

Chapter 32

And fulfilling your orders.

*poof with a cloud of smoke*

Chaos everyone. Phantom Hitman 1412 is back from her _super-secret Hitman assignment!_ The assignment is done and dusted and the usual report handed into the Boss.

The good news is that I'm no longer a Zombie and am ready to start writing again. Basically, I've been on work experience the past week, meaning I've had no time to write any chapters. I've literally been dead all week and slept as soon as I got home. I barely got a chapter out for Thief, which left me no time to write one for this. And the worst part was I still had work on Saturday too, and then spent all of Sunday doing assignments. However I've just handed all of the assignments in to my teacher and I'm pretty sure I'm done for now! No more college!

Now to answer a question that came up in a review. (BTW sorry for not answering back to you all, but I didn't have the time too, I'll be doing so directly after uploading this chapter)

_Amplifyingly Loud asked: Since Tsuna didn't know what the Namahage was, does that mean that he doesn't consider himself Japanese, but Italian?_

That's a slightly hard question to answer. Obviously, in the real world, the differences in the Italian and Japanese body structure would give it away that Tsunayoshi is not Italian. This isn't as obvious in anime and manga in general. However, these days we base our nationality on where we were born/ grew up. So in this case, Tsunayoshi would see himself as Italian since that's the Language everyone around him speaks. The majority of the Mafioso around Tsunayoshi are Italian, and therefore would give Tsunayoshi a sense of Italian culture and beliefs. However, this is the reason that when I was choosing the more abstract Families to put in here, I chose ones from different cultures. I made sure to mention that the Mafia Central lot were Japanese, I chose the Russian Giegue and the Chinese Triads along with the American Nuevo, so that Tsunayoshi is brought up surrounded by lots of different cultures, which will be important in the future.

Hope that clears things up.

Once again, another reminder that I-pin, Lambo and Fuuta are all 2 in this fic. Oh, and those who have only watched the anime won't know who the Leilei Brothers are since they appear in the Shimon arc. Although you didn't miss anything, they were just named as coming to Decimo's inheritance ceremony.

So if everyone is ready (and since you're here, I'm assuming you are)…

Let the Show Begin!

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi wakes up the next morning and has an extremely close view of the famous curly sideburns. He had always wondered how they were so curly since he knew that Reborn didn't own a pair of curling tongs. Blurrily, it takes him a few moments to remember where he is- sleeping with his head on Reborn's shoulder. A warm presence down his back and ending on his hip is Reborn's arm, protectively caging him in. Tsunayoshi can't help but smile at this. He was sure the others knew it too, but he got the full brunt of it: Reborn was ferociously protective. If Tsunayoshi ever had any doubts that Reborn didn't like him, then the positions they woke up in were all the proof he would need. It didn't matter how far away from Reborn he was at the start of the night, by the morning, he was always being held rather possessively.<p>

He stayed as still as possible since he knew any movement would wake the Hitman up. He wanted to enjoy this rare, peaceful moment for as long as he could. As soon as Reborn was awake, the Spartan Hitman would appear and Leon would be aimed at him for not moving fast enough, or for appearing weak, or something else the Hitman didn't approve of. Moments like this were a rarity when Reborn was awake, and non-existent if other people were around.

Hmm, that gave him an idea. Looking upwards without moving his head, he could see Leon looking down at him from his position on Reborn's pillow above his spiky hair.

'help me?' he mouths silently. Leon cocks his head to the side and nods, slowly coming closer to him. Tsunayoshi mouths the rest of his plan to Leon who nods in agreement and runs down to his hand. Within a few moments he can feel Leon fitting snugly into his hand in his new form. Taking a deep breath he puts his plan into action.

Throwing one leg over the Hitman, he sits atop Reborn's chest and points a Gun Leon at Reborn, clicking the safety off to make a noise. "Bwahaha Reborn. I have you now! Listen to my demands or I'll shoot you" He, of course, had no intention of shooting Reborn, and would only do so if Leon used nice soft bouncy bullets that wouldn't hurt, nor destroy the house. Luce got mad when bullet holes appeared and furniture got smashed during their fights.

Reborn had stiffened at the sound of the safety clicking off, but had made no other move. Now he lazily opens one eye to find Tsunayoshi sitting on him. "Demands? What demands could you possibly have?" Reborn decided to be careful with Tsunayoshi. He had been brought up around three trigger-happy gunmen, aka him, Lal and Colonnello. _Silly boy, it helps if you have your finger on the trigger_ reprimands Reborn mentally since Tsunayoshi's finger was nowhere near it.

Lal's tip #1: People got more scared the closer the gun was to them.

He follows Lal's mental advice and moves the gun to rest on Reborn's forehead. Lal's recruits were always really scared whenever she did this. Skull stammered a lot more whenever Reborn did it to him. Reborn opens both eyes, moves them away from Tsunayoshi and goes nearly cross-eyed to look at the gun. He notices the grin Leon had on. "I'll get you later for this" he hisses quietly to Leon. Tsunayoshi hears this and gives Leon a reassuring squeeze, saying he'll take the blame. However he's surprised to find Leon shaking in laughter instead. Seems that Leon didn't mind pranking his partner, maybe they played tricks on each other often?

"My demands" reminds Tsunayoshi "Are that you play with me more often, are nicer with me around other people and to stop bullying Skull"

Reborn does smile at this, but it's somewhere between a smirk over how silly the demands were and a smile of exasperation over how much like Tsunayoshi they were. "Hmm, let's see. No, no and definitely not" Tsunayoshi pouts, half expecting that answer anyway, knowing he had been hoping for a miracle. "You are a hundred years too early to threaten and make demands from me" smirks Reborn, a hint of laughter in his voice. "I'm going to have to punish you for trying." He reaches up and tickles Tsunayoshi whilst using the other hand to keep the squirming boy in place.

"HEEII" Tsunayoshi screams, trying his hardest to get away from his punishment. He bursts out into laughter and tries to stop Reborn. "Re-reborn! Stop it!"

He eventually manages to squirm out of the man's grip and runs to the door and throws it open. He stands in the doorway and points Leon back at Reborn. "Bwahaha, my plan worked. I got away from you. You **shall** follow my demands Reborn" Reborn didn't have a clue where the falsely deep cliché villain voice had come from but it was really funny. He vaguely wondered what the last movie Tsunayoshi had watched with Luce was- maybe this acting came from there? Reborn swings his legs out of the bed and gives Tsunayoshi a predatory look accompanied by his usual smirk.

"You'd better start running before I punish you even more. I won't be lenient this time" His smirk is made even scarier as Reborn puts his fedora on.

Tsunayoshi _heeiis_ once more before running, laughing loudly, down the corridor and down the stairs, Reborn in hot pursuit. After almost tumbling down the stairs, Tsunayoshi runs down the hallway and into the living room before diving behind the sofa and pointing the gun at Reborn once more.

"You will, you will, you will!" he shouts, smiling broadly.

"Keep on wishing brat" says Reborn amusedly.

The others, having heard the commotion upstairs and now downstairs, open the kitchen door and peak through. They are amazed to find Reborn actually playing with Tsunayoshi, even if it seemed like there was a hidden agenda behind it.

Tsunayoshi pouts once more and half growls "Mou~ How about just the third one then?" he asks

"Nope" answers Reborn

"Just shoot him, kora" shouts Colonnello.

"Colonnello!" shouts Luce in shock before smacking him on the head. "You shouldn't encourage him like that." She knew it was futile with this lot though, especially considering the conversation they had had yesterday.

"Yes Luce. Sorry" apologises Colonnello.

Both Tsunayoshi and Reborn look that way, and Tsunayoshi knows his fun is now over. And just like he guessed, Reborn stiffened up, the smile disappeared and the fedora was pulled down.

"I bet he could shoot me before you could Colonnello" says Reborn, stalking into the kitchen and grabbing the espresso that was on the counter. Tsunayoshi clambers back over the sofa and returns Leon back to his place on Reborn's fedora. But one thing Tsunayoshi did notice, was the way that Reborn's chair wasn't as tucked in as it normally was. So of course, he takes the hint and jumps into his lap.

"Morning everyone!"

"Good morning Tsunayoshi" the others reply.

"So are you ready to go with me?" asks Fon.

"Yeah! I can't wait." Says Tsunayoshi bouncing in place before Reborn growls at him to stop.

Tsunayoshi eats his breakfast as quickly as possible and drags Fon up the stairs to get changed. "Come on Fon. Hurry up!"

"Tsunayoshi, you should learn some patience." Says Fon, smiling down at him. Tsunayoshi stops pulling on his arm and slows his pace.

"I'm sorry. I was just excited" he says looking down. Fon gently smiles and ruffles Tsunayoshi's hair.

"Excitement is good, but you should also learn patience. Good things come to those who wait."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later and Tsunayoshi and Fon were walking down Mafia Row. Tsunayoshi was in red sleeveless top and black shorts whilst Fon is in his usual robes. They walk past Mafia Central and end up at a house in between the Tomaso and the Estraneo, on the left side of the street.<p>

"Well, this is it." says Fon. Tsunayoshi nods and watches as Fon knocks on the gate and it's opened by a woman in a dress.

"We have been expecting you Fon. Welcome back." She bows to him and steps aside to let them walk in.

Tsunayoshi stares in awe at yet another new type of place. He takes in the new type of buildings with his jaw dropped on the floor. There was a lot of wood around and plants in the courtyard. It gave off quite a calm aura, a lot like Fon himself really.

Two men come over and Tsunayoshi notices how much like each other they looked. He guessed that they would be brothers, or maybe even twins at a push. Both held themselves upright, but not in the stand-off-ish way Reborn did at times. Tsunayoshi noticed that they moved like Fon too, gracefully and purposefully. When the brothers were close enough to talk, but not invade personal space, they bowed and Fon bowed back. Tsunayoshi hesitated and followed suit a moment after.

"Tsunayoshi, I would like to introduce you to the Leilei Brothers. They are both fearsome assassins that work in Asia. They are known for being able to work without a weapon and can act silently." Tsunayoshi nods to this. He had noticed that even though they had been walking on gravel he hadn't heard a noise. "They also share the position of Dragon Head for the Zhang Family. On the right is Li and of the left is Kai"

"A-a dragon? That's so cool. But what does 'dragon head' mean?" Tsunayoshi asks, eyes shining with excitement over the mention of a dragon. So far he knew there were two types of dragon. There was the type which Fon had tattooed on his torso, and then there was the Dragon and Knights type of dragon that was usually keeping a princess captive in English stories.

"Dragon Head is the same as a Boss, but is the Chinese Triad terminology. Chinese Triads are organised crime just like the Mafia is, so they were allowed to come here to Mafia Row."

Tsunayoshi makes an understanding noise before waving at the two brothers. "It's very nice to meet you! Um, I was wondering, but why are two of you Boss? Isn't it usually only one?"

It was kind of scary the way both brothers smile at the exact same time. "We understand what you are saying" says the one on the right, Li.

"We are currently the only Boss, Chinese or otherwise, to be a pair rather than a single person" explains Kai.

"However, both being Boss is very beneficial"

"Since the work is shared"

"As are the rewards."

"We can support each other"

"And both can understand any stresses of being a Boss the other might have."

"Plus if one of us dies"

"The Family can still continue on"

Again, it was weird for both of them to finish off each other's sentences, but Tsunayoshi got used to it after a while. He also kind of understood what they were going on about. Being a Boss was apparently a hard task according to everyone else he had met, so having someone else share the work was very good for them.

"That's awesome!" shouts Tsunayoshi happily. All three adults smile. The brothers turn around and start to walk down the path, and Fon and Tsunayoshi follow them. As they walk into different parts of the house, he notices that lots of people are doing lots of different things with different weapons. In one room, different types of Kung Fu were being practiced. He noticed that some of the moves were similar to ones Fon had taught him. In the next room over, people were practicing with swords, and in another a group of women were practicing with fans. Finally they went outside once more where Tsunayoshi was presented with a weapon he had never seen before. It looked a lot like the crossbow Lal had trained the recruits in one day. However this one was a lot larger and was held differently. Both used arrows though.

"I'm sure Lal has shown you a crossbow Tsunayoshi" says Fon, Tsunayoshi nods. "Well, this is the original, known just as a bow. These weapons have been around for a very very long time. The Zhang family are famous for using Bows in their work since Zhang can mean archer. They are good for long distance, and if used by the right person, can be used for assassinations. They are generally used for when one wants to work from a distance." Tsunayoshi watches a few rounds and is amazed by the concentration on their faces. As they continue to walk down the garden, Fon has to drag Tsunayoshi along as the boy continues to watch the Archery practice.

Tsunayoshi is snapped out of watching when he hears a small girl's voice. "Master, master!" as Tsunayoshi turns to face forwards, he sees a woman walking towards them.

The woman gets closer and she smiles before laughing "You know that 'master' was her first word?" she says to Fon. Fon smiles down at the baby and takes her from the woman. Whilst walking towards a bench nearby, he explains to Tsunayoshi,

"This little girl is I-pin and she seems to have taken a liking to me. She is the great-granddaughter to my Master, who also taught the Leilei Brothers. We were training at a similar time and have known each other since we were teenagers." He sits down on the bench and strokes the baby's hair gently.

The woman walks over to them, looking calm, although Tsunayoshi has a feeling that she is actually slightly distressed but also proud at the same time. He wondered what she was going to say next with feelings like that.

"Fon, I have something to tell you" she says. Fon looks up with his ever calm expression. The woman seems to take solace in this and takes in a deep breath before saying. "It seems that you really will have to become I-pin's master when she grows up" Fon raises an eyebrow to this and the woman continues. "Well, just the other day, we found out that she has… _it_."

The other eyebrow rises too. Tsunayoshi looks between the pair and wonders what on earth 'it' is. She looked far too cute to be as dangerous as they were making this 'it' to be. Little did he know he was far too cute to be as dangerous as he was too.

"She does?" Fon asks. This was the first time Tsunayoshi had seen Fon like this, shocked and lost for words.

Tsunayoshi stands on the bench to get a better look at her. The baby locks eyes with his and he smiles. "Wow, she's cute" he says. He giggles as the baby turns bright red with her blush.

Then something weird happens.

These patterned dots appear on her head. First there are 9 of them. Just as he's wondering whether these are birthmarks, they change, and suddenly there are only 8 dots.

"Um Fon" Tsunayoshi asks. Watching as the numbers change once again.

"Not now Tsunayoshi, this is important" mumbles Fon as he continues to talk rapidly with the woman in Chinese.

Tsunayoshi, however, is sure that this is very important. His intuition is going into overdrive with the need to get away from here. For some reason, he gets the feeling that he should throw her in the air. Really, how strange could this intuition get?

"Fon. What's this marking?" he asks, the worry in his voice apparent. Both heads snap in his direction and realise what's happening.

"See I told you!" shouts the woman, taking some hurried steps backwards. Fon lifts the baby and makes the girl look directly at him. He says something to her in Chinese that Tsunayoshi can't understand and slowly the marking disappear before they reach zero. Fon breathes a deep sigh of relief as he puts the baby back down onto his lap.

"Fon, what was that?" Tsunayoshi asks once more.

"That, Tsunayoshi, was I-pin's Pinzu Time Bomb. It's a move that is passed down my Master's bloodline and it seems like she knows it too. What did you say to her?" Says Fon, allowing I-pin to play with his fingers.

"I said she's cute" replies Tsunayoshi happily.

Fon looks over and smiles. "Yeah, that would do the trick. This skill happens sometimes when the user gets embarrassed. If the timer had gotten down to zero she would have caused an explosion, hence the name time bomb."

"Really? Wow" is all Tsunayoshi has to say.

"It's quite an honour for our Family to be looking after her" says the woman, taking I-pin from Fon

"Oh yeah Tsunayoshi, don't you have a question for this lady?" asks Fon with a smile. Tsunayoshi gives him a questioning look until Fon grabs the sleeve of his robes. Then he gets it.

"Oh yeah. Um, would it be possible for you to make me some clothes just like Fon's? I really want some. Please~" Fon laughs into his sleeve when Tsunayoshi pulls out the puppy-dog eyes. No one could resist those eyes. It even affected Reborn and Bermuda.

The woman has no chance

"Of course I will. It would be an honour to do so for someone so close to Fon. Why not come with me, and after I put I-pin to bed, I'll take your measurements." Tsunayoshi nods and looks at Fon for permission to go with the lady. Fon gives permission and Tsunayoshi skips after the lady.

When he comes back 10 minutes later, it's to find an awe inspiring sight. Fon was fighting with the Leilei brothers with the rest of the Family around to watch the fight. It must have been a friendly match since everyone was cheering and Fon had a smile on his face. Fon was dodging, looking just like the wind with how effortless it all seemed. Even against two opponents, he didn't seem troubled. The Leilei brothers were fearsome opponents like Fon had said. They moved in sync and seemed to know what the other was going to do and work with it. They attacked from all angles leaving Fon with very little room to manoeuvre. However, even Tsunayoshi could see that Fon was a far above them. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet. With one spinning kick, his robes floating around him, Fon took Kai out. Before Li could react, Fon had landed and kicked a foot out to the side, causing Li to go flying. The crowd roars in excitement and Tsunayoshi cheers. Fon bows to the crowd before going over to help the brothers up. All three laugh, and the others compliment Fon on his skills.

"You haven't changed"

"We couldn't touch you as usual"

Fon smiles "You two did very well as usual. It's good to know that being Head Dragon hasn't stopped you from keeping up with your training."

Tsunayoshi runs over clapping his hands "Fon that was amazing! You've got to teach me that!"

"Maybe one day Tsunayoshi. You've still got to work on your basics"

* * *

><p>"And Fon was all like swish swish, and then it was suddenly pow pow and they had gone flying!" exclaims Tsunayoshi after dinner that night<p>

"Fon certainly is very good at hand to hand combat, kora" admits Colonnello.

"Better than you'll ever be" grumbles Lal. Colonnello just pouts at her, to which she replies with a series of slaps and shouted admonishments.

"He really is. We've all tried and none of us can match him" sighs Skull. "I lasted the longest though" the others snort in a half laugh.

"Hmm, you have not seen me attempt it yet" comments Bermuda.

Tsunayoshi looks at Skull with wide proud eyes "Really? That's incredible"

Skull laughs nervously and plays with the chain on his lip. "Haha, not really. It's only because I can take a punch better than these guys can. I didn't even land a hit on Fon" The others continue to laugh. "ANYWAY" says Skull loudly, changing the subject. "You have the pleasure of coming with the great Skull-sama tomorrow!"

Verde comes over and leans over Skull's shoulder, his face dangerously close. "Tsunayoshi had better come back tomorrow with no marks on him. If I find even one, you'll be in for a nightmare. Understood? I'll even take blood tests to make sure. So he'd better not inhale anything either." Skull shakes under the cool threatening voice.

"Trust the idiot lackey to make the idiotic choice with his loyalties." Reborn remarks snidely.

"J-just because they aren't Vongola's ally" Skull tries to justify, but even to him it sounds pathetic.

"Hn, there's a reason for that"

* * *

><p><strong>I chose these names for the Bosses since Li means strength and Kai means victorious, which I think are suitable names for a pair of Mafia Bosses. <strong>

**Sorry for the long wait guys *bows* Hopefully, everything should be okay now. **

**I think we all know where Skull is off to tomorrow. By the way this is the last chance for you to tell me any character's that you think I've missed out. Dr Shamal has his appearance in Hayato's chapter and won't be getting one of his own. Lambo and the Bovino are after the next chapter. Talbot was mentioned in the V3 chapter. If possible I'd like any important character's I've missed out, rather than the small families I've decided not to include. I'm not going to put MM, Birds or the Bloody Twins in. MM might make an appearance, but the others won't. Fran's appearance will be later too. **

**So join me then!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 20 June 2012. **


	33. Against the Wrong Family

Chapter 33

Against the Wrong Family.

**Sorry once again for the lateness, but I was participating in the Black Out Day. Whilst Mafia Row is safe, every one of my other stories either had violence, lemons or are based on songs- Especially Thief, which I am very proud about. So I didn't want them to be taken down. **

**KuraiArcoiris, there's something in here that you've been waiting for. It wasn't until I had finished the chapter that I realised that I had done what you had suggested, but this is the perfect place to put it.**

* * *

><p>A gentle pat on the head slowly wakes Tsunayoshi up. He blurrily opens his eyes to find Luce gently smiling down on him. She brushes some stray hair away from his face.<p>

"Good morning, sleepy head"

"mmm… Good morning Luce."

She picks him up and carries him downstairs. Tsunayoshi tries to go back to sleep, lulled by her gentle rocking as she walks down the stairs. Tsunayoshi immediately wakes up when he feels the aura the others are emitting.

Seriously, were they still fighting?

It had been like this ever since last night. It seems that the others aren't too happy with where Skull is taking him today, however Skull had the perfect excuse: Tsunayoshi has been taken to every other Family on the island, including the dangerous ones. As a result, there was no viable reason for him not to take Tsunayoshi.

Of course, Luce had been there to calm everything down, set ground rules and make sure most people were happy. Tsunayoshi always admired the way that she was able to do this. He wondered what the house would be like if she wasn't there. He didn't want to think about that. In fact, he didn't want to think of a house without any of them in it.

Deciding he didn't like the bad atmosphere in the room, Tsunayoshi puts on a bright smile and says rather loudly, "Good Morning"

But he is ignored by everyone except Bermuda. Tsunayoshi pouts at this and goes to stand next to Bermuda who is leaning against the kitchen counter, watching the conversation. Bermuda didn't actually mind Tsunayoshi going where he was going today, for like Skull had been telling the others, Tsunayoshi had been everywhere else. Bermuda knew that none of this Family's men were in his prison. However he wasn't going to tell them that some had gotten rather close on some occasions.

Luce sighed and went about making breakfast for them all. Whilst having reservations, Luce also didn't mind Tsunayoshi going. But it had nothing to do with the Family Skull was seeing, but with Skull himself. She had noticed that every time Tsunayoshi was in danger, Skull had always protected Tsunayoshi with his body, always getting directly between their little boy and the enemy, whether that was Iemitsu or Bermuda. She knew that Skull would do anything he could to make sure that Tsunayoshi wouldn't get harmed.

Tsunayoshi accepts his breakfast of cereal from Luce and walks into the Battlefield. Placing his bowl on the table, he jumps onto Skull's lap, takes a huge spoonful and says "Come on Skull, we've got to be ready for today, don't we?" and holds up the spoonful near Skull's face with the obvious intent for the Stuntman to eat it. Everyone goes quiet at the interruption. Skull smiles at this show of trust from Tsunayoshi, nods his head, and eats the cereal Tsunayoshi had been offering him.

Reborn, still not too happy with the result, and too stubborn to give up that easily, raises his gun once more, but is stopped by a few words from Luce. "Hmm, what a wonderful espresso." She had once again dared to drink his espresso. Reborn snatched the rest away from her before it was all gone.

A few of the others give Tsunayoshi a hard analytical stare, especially Verde and Viper. What they were looking for was any hint of un-comfortableness, or apprehension from the little boy. Tsunayoshi was not very good at hiding his emotions from the others (it didn't help most of these people were exceptionally good at reading others like a book), so any hints should have been easy to see. Both were looking to see if Tsunayoshi's hyper intuition had provided the boy with any misgivings about the day to come. Verde because he had been documenting it, and therefore knew some of the tell-tale signs, and Viper because she had been around Nono for long enough to recognise the signs. There were none. It seemed that Tsunayoshi wasn't worried about the coming day at all. So all they could do was trust him.

* * *

><p>They walked all the way down Mafia Row to get to this new house. It was next to Bermuda's house and opposite to the Estraneo's house. Skull unlocks the gate and walks inside, Tsunayoshi following him. There wasn't a lot to this garden really, just a lawn without any decorations. In fact, the only 'decoration' the garden could boast, was the few people sleeping sprawled out on the lawn.<p>

Skull sighs and shakes his head "They must have had another party last night. Just ignore the drunks Tsunayoshi." Tsunayoshi nods his head but can't help looking at the people with interest. All looked dead to the world around them. One of these drunk Mafioso is collapsed over the doorway. Skull moves him out of the way with his foot before entering. After feeling the stagnant air in the hallway, Tsunayoshi decides it might be a good idea to leave the door open to let fresh air into the house.

The house is in really bad condition; there were bullet holes all over the place, the wallpaper was peeling off, there was graffiti all over the walls. The carpet was stained (by what Tsunayoshi couldn't tell), the furniture was ripped and battered. He couldn't understand why someone would want to live in a house like this, nor how they had let it become this bad. It was either that, or Tsunayoshi wondered just what kind of party they had had the night before. Skull looks around the house and sighs once more. In reality, the house always looked like this since they had parties nearly every night. Kicking some beer bottles out of the way, he slowly guides Tsunayoshi to the living room where hoped the Boss would be.

Opening one door, Skull half steps in before immediately backing out and taking a step away from it as if it was about to blow up. Tsunayoshi looks at Skull confused. With his helmet on, Tsunayoshi couldn't get a good look at Skull's face, but he seemed scared. "Haha, we're going to go a different way" says Skull before grabbing Tsunayoshi's hand and pulling him quickly away from the door. Verde's threat from last night was still ringing in Skull's ears. Verde came up with some of the most unusual and painful punishments Skull had ever seen. It wasn't like he wanted to get Tsunayoshi intoxicated or high either.

Finally, they make it to a room with the only awake people Tsunayoshi has seen.

"Wolf, I told you I was bringing someone over today. Why on earth is the mansion like this? What kind of impression are you trying to make?" shouts Skull, hand on his hips to look imposing.

"Oh, Skull. Why? We were having a victory party." Replies Wolf. Tsunayoshi gets his first look at the man and the feeling in his gut starts to turn bad. It's telling him not to trust this man. That this man isn't a nice person. The Boss is quite thin, rather pale, with short hair and brown eyes. He's wearing a black pinstripe suit, with lots of gold jewellery glinting around the place. As the man smiles, Tsunayoshi can see the glint of gold on his teeth too.

"A victory party for what?" asks Skull suspiciously. You never could tell with this Family.

"The Carcassa" the man says smiling broadly in pleasure. Tsunayoshi's intuition growls at the name. Tsunayoshi himself is quickly coming to the same conclusion as his intuition. Sometimes it was wrong, or just didn't see things clearly, but this time, it seemed spot on. "Have just secured the deal with those men from Africa. Speaking of, I'll need you to go there and collect the children"

"I will not!" shouts Skull, slamming his hands down on the table. Tsunayoshi had never seen Skull this mad before. Skull was almost a different person here in this building. "I told you, I am having nothing to do with your child trafficking. I don't believe that children should be used as slaves or as prostitutes."

The Boss looks at Skull for a few moments before sneering. "Oh really. So you'd rather that I tell the Arcobaleno your dirty little secret?" Skull freezes up and takes a step backwards.

"You w-wouldn't." breaths Skull shakily.

"Of course I would." Laughs Wolf. He stands up from the table and walks around it to be closer to Skull. The rest of his subordinates in the room all stand up too, crowding closer and closer to the stuntman. "I've kept your dirty little secret so far, but wouldn't be awful if it just… slipped out? It would spread like wildfire and sully the Arcobaleno name. You'd be kicked out, and then where would you be, eh?"

Tsunayoshi watches as Skull takes another step backwards, obviously scared of this man's threat. However in Tsunayoshi's opinion, this man isn't being very fair. Secrets were meant to be kept. He kept the others' secrets away from all of the other Arcobaleno. He never used it to blackmail people with. He doesn't want Skull to be scared any longer. Skull doesn't deserve that.

Standing infront of Skull, Tsunayoshi glares up at Wolf. "Stop it. You shouldn't threaten Skull!" he shouts at them. There is a silent pause before the men in the room burst out into laughter.

"hahaha, look at big bad Skull being defended by a tiny child. That the best you got Skull? How is he going to save you?" remarks the man snidely. Tsunayoshi grits his teeth and growls in his throat, just causing the men to laugh even more.

"Or maybe he brought the child to share in his dirty little secret" shouts one man from the side of the room. The men around all jeer at this.

"Of course!" agrees the Boss "Skull's just as filthy as the rest of us are. What a bad influence you are Skull" the man smiles, showing he doesn't really mean that. "You say you won't deal with our child trafficking, yet here you are, bringing the boy _here_ of all places. You might talk big Skull, you might see yourself as better than we all are, but in truth, you're just a wimp. You aren't strong enough- that's the reason you came to us in the first place after all. So you are going to listen to me, and do what I say, or else everyone will find out that Skull from Hell is so unclean that even Hell won't take him in."

"T-t-that's not true! T-there are w-worse p-people than m-me!" Stammers Skull, backing away even more.

"Stop it!" shouts Tsunayoshi once more, his glare slowly getting colder and colder. "You're all just bullies!" Raucous laughter ensues.

"So, since you ain't going to stop us, how about you join the party? Even your kid here can join, ain't that right Snake?" says Wolf, giving Tsunayoshi a very unfriendly smirk.

Someone grabs Tsunayoshi and hauls him into their grip. Tsunayoshi struggles but goes cold when he feels something cold and sharp pressed against his arm. "Don't worry Skull, this is the good stuff, 100% pure and unprocessed." Informs Snake, the one holding Tsunayoshi.

Tsunayoshi watches as Skull goes stiff in anger, his fists clenching. He shakes ever so slightly, but the men around assume this is in fear. "Haha, not so high and might now are you Skull."

"P-put him down" whispers Skull.

"Eh? Can't hear you Skull. Where's the loud and confident stuntman we see on TV?"

"I said Put Him Down!" roars Skull. He steps forwards towards Shake and reaches to pull Tsunayoshi out of his grip. Snake, seeing this, lifts the syringe he had been holding against Tsunayoshi's arm back slightly and goes to puncture it into Tsunayoshi's skin. However Skull reaches Tsunayoshi just in time and pulls the boy out of Snakes grip, getting the syringe in his arm instead. Holding the boy close, Skull punches and kicks his way out of the room and runs down the clear corridor. He can hear the Boss's last words follow him

"Heh, leave him. He'll be back. No one else will take him anyway." Skull wished that those words weren't true.

Once Skull is a reasonable distance away- at the junction where Mafia Row Central crosses the main Mafia Row- he collapses into a bench, hugs Tsunayoshi tightly and bursts into tears.

"I'm so sorry Tsunayoshi. I should have listened to the others. I thought they were going to be on good behaviour for once. I should have known better. I'm so stupid. I'm sorry,"

"Skull… Skull… Listen to me Skull" Tsunayoshi tries to interrupt but Skull keeps on crying and apologising. So grabbing his hand, he drags Skull all the way back home.

Skull stops talking when his helmet is pulled off and he's pushed into Oodako's water tank.

"Skull be quiet and listen to me!" shouts Tsunayoshi from his position on the edge of the tank. He keeps going before Skull can interrupt him once more "You need to leave that Family. They don't deserve you! If they are going to treat you like that then you shouldn't stay any longer"

Skull sniffs and looks down "But the thing is Tsunayoshi, they were the only people to take me in. And with what I've done, they are going to be the only people who would consider taking me in"

"The only people? Why would you even look for them?" asks Tsunayoshi confused.

"Because everyone else is attached to a Family, so I thought that I should be too, to fit in more. I thought that if I joined and made a Family successful, then Reborn wouldn't laugh at me anymore."

Tsunayoshi sighs and walks around the tank to be closer to Skull's position. "Skull, you don't need to be attached to a Mafia Family to fit in. In fact, I like you even more because you aren't like the others. Skull wouldn't be the person I like if he was like Reborn. And where would the others be without you in the group too?"

He gives Skull a few moments to think that over before he continues.

"We still love you Skull. And I'm sure whatever you have done isn't really bad. You wouldn't do something like that!" argues Tsunayoshi right back.

"I am Tsunayoshi! I'm a horrible person! I was feeling really sorry about myself one day and I ended up resorting to taking drugs from them to feel better. That's my dirty secret"

"Skull" sighs Tsunayoshi.

"See, you're going to hate me now and then everyone else will and I'm sure Reborn will kill me for sure this time!"

"Skull, be quiet. I'm not going to hate you. You don't take them now right." Skull shakes his head.

"I stopped not long after we got you" he mumbles. "I never felt bad enough to take them after we got you. You were always enough to make me feel better"

Tsunayoshi smiles, takes a few steps backwards, runs and jumps into the pool right next to Skull. Skull catches him and is soon enveloped in a hug. "I'm not going anywhere Skull. And I never will. So there's no need for you to ever go back to that Family ever again." Tsunayoshi pulls back and looks at Skull straight in the eyes. "Promise me, you won't ever go back there."

Skull bursts into tears once more, but this time it's due to gratitude from all the love Tsunayoshi has given him. Skull is glad that Oodako is holding them up since he doesn't think he can swim anymore. "I will Tsunayoshi. I promise you" Tsunayoshi smiles and hugs Skull tightly once more. "But what if Wolf really does tell everyone?" he asks, worry filling his voice.

Tsunayoshi thinks for a few moments before climbing out of the tank. "Child trafficking means selling children right?" he asks. Skull blankly nods. Tsunayoshi climbs down from the pool and runs to the entrance of Skull's warehouse

"Bermuda!" he shouts. Bermuda steps out of a black portal and bends down to be on Tsunayoshi's level.

"Yes, Tsunayoshi? How may I be of assistance?" Bermuda asks, noticing Tsunayoshi's wet appearance.

"The Carcassa Family are selling children. Can you go and tell them off?" Tsunayoshi asks. "Tell them Tsunayoshi and Skull sent you and that they had better not mess with Skull again!" Bermuda smiles, and a quick look at Skull's red blotchy face and tearful eyes gives him a good guess at what had also happened that day.

"Of course Tsunayoshi. Selling children is against Mafia Code" replies Bermuda. He stands up and takes a few steps backwards. "Jacque, Junk, Appear" he orders. A few moments later, two more cloaked Vendice appear behind him. "Follow me." All three quickly disappear.

Tsunayoshi goes back to Skull and offers him the towel he had found laying near the pool. "Skull, I never did thank you for saving me back there." He smiles another of his beautiful bright smiles reserved only for the Arcobaleno "So Thank You!"

Skull climbs out of the pool, feeling worn out from all of the crying. But despite that, he actually feels better than he had for a very long time. Hopefully, he would now finally be free from his mistake.

* * *

><p>It is rather quiet at the dinner table that night, and the Arcobaleno wisely give Skull his space. Tsunayoshi's look every time one of them started to say something mean quickly stopped any further actions. Bermuda wasn't there, still dealing with the naughty Carcassa.<p>

Luce decides to cheer up the atmosphere. "Oh, Tsunayoshi, I have such a darling little outfit for you to wear tomorrow" she sings, eyes sparkling.

Reborn rolls his eyes. "Luce, please tell me you have not followed that Family's weird fashion trend. And why they chose that animal print I'll never know."

"Well because of their name of course!" replies Luce "Or maybe Verde can ask if he's not too busy having fun with them. Their house is like a playground for him"

Tsunayoshi couldn't wait to see who this lot were then. Although he was worrying slightly over what their house would be like if Verde found it to be fun. He has a feeling his brain is going to hurt after this trip.

* * *

><p><strong>I've always thought that the Carcassa were evil (they aren't allowed into Mafia Land because of their drug trafficking) and I don't think Skull should be with them. I've had this plan for them ever since I decided to do them. Skull deserves better than them!<strong>

**I might not get the next chapter out on time since it's a long and complicated one. I've got to work out all of the kinks in it first. Thought I had better warn you guys. **

**And I want to thank you guys for over 500 reviews! I love you all to pieces. As a result, I'm going to write an omake and post it up once I'm done. I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Lots of love,**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 24****th**** June 2012. **

**Grammar check 25/6/12  
><strong>


	34. So the Truth can be revealed

Chapter 34:

So the truth can be revealed

**I'm warning you now this is a weird chapter. God knows where the idea came from. I blame Talbot honestly. **

**Since so many of you wanted Bermuda to get out of the house, I've finally decided to relent. So he's out of the house in this chapter, but not like you'd expect. So to those who I told 'everyone's too scared of him'- problem solved. Enjoy a chapter you've all been waiting for. Although I think the title gives it away. **

**To my totally anonymous reviewer: Thanks for telling me of that mistake, I've changed it now. I really do need to go back and proof read these chapters once more, now that I can't remember them word for word. Well, they walked back of course, but since I was doing it from Skull's POV, he was too busy crying to notice. Yes, this chapter is about them. We finally get to see our fav cow. Thank you~**

**To Anonymous: I'm really glad that you like it, the plot is one third of the story after all. I think the Arcobaleno would be protective by nature, but yes, it is awesome to see them like this. More Interesting… I'll see what I can do, although I wonder whether this chapter counts as interesting or not, lol. I do that with some stories that I love so I can read them at any time, so it's quite a compliment to known you have done so. I hope you keep enjoying the rest of the fic.**

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, first time I'm gonna do one of these, but memories are important in this chapter and there are lots of different types.<strong>

_**Italics and centred: the 'man in the trees' POV, generally flashbacks to past chapters or else his POV when he's not in the current scene.**_

_**Italics: Generally these are specific thoughts of characters, rather than narrative thoughts. Ie, thoughts in the first person rather than the third.**_

_**Italics and Bold and Centred: Tsuna's memories.**_

_**Underlined: Communicators.**_

* * *

><p>Bullets fall from the sky and Storm is forced to use the shields of his Sistema CAI.<p>

"Che, these morons. Don't they have any clue who the real enemy here is?" he growls before pushing a ring into one of the many boxes on his belt. A cartridge covered in purple flames jumps into his hand and he inserts it into the Skull Canon on his arm. "Take this- Cloud Arrow"

The large crowd of Mafioso around him all get hit by the wide range attack and fall to the ground, not dead or unconscious, but due to the force of the hit.

"Now listen here you simpletons. Haven't you even heard about the Mafia Wide Treaty? Or do you all just want to die? Vongola is not your enemy- at this time, no one is your enemy. Wait until later to solve petty disputes. We are all needed to take down the threat that is staring us right in the face. Now get your pathetic Boss infront of me before I decide to lock you all up for being uncooperative. You know Vongola's got prisons big enough to do so." A few of the Mafioso near the back who hadn't been hit as hard scramble up and disappear into a nearby building.

"Storm Capo. I have a message for you from Rain Capo" shouts a man wearing a red tie to mark him as one of Storm's men.

"Che, that Sword Freak. What is it, I'm busy?" Storm growls in reply.

The man straightens up as he presents his message. "Right sir. According to Rain Capo, Carcassa and Nuevo are still having trouble with Civilian Resistance Forces. They are too busy trying to defend themselves to be able to send reinforcements to Sicily."

Storm growls and wants to shout out, but that would present the wrong image to the horde of Enemy Mafioso infront of him.

_Juudaime, I hope this plan works._

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi wakes the next morning next to Skull. After the eventful day they had had yesterday, Tsunayoshi decides that a few extra minutes wouldn't do any harm. So snuggling closer to the Stuntman, he falls back to sleep once more. When he wakes again, it's to find two strong arms wrapped around him, so he smiles gently. Yawning, he looks at the time and decides it's best to get out of bed now.<p>

"Oi Skull… Skull." But there was no reaction. He pokes the man in the cheek and receives a slight mumble in return. Leaning over, he flicks Skull on the forehead

"Oww. Stop it." Skull mumbles, so he does it again. "I'm up, I'm up, alright" he rolls onto his back and throws an arm over his eyes.

Now that he was at least free, Tsunayoshi jumps off the side of the bed. "You'd better come down for breakfast Skull before I eat it all" Skull rolls over and waves a hand at Tsunayoshi to at least show he's heard. Tsunayoshi sighs and runs down the corridor.

As he gets to the living room, he is surprised to hear the front door opening. A few moments later Viper walks in, rubbing her very red cheeks. They looked painful. "Huh, have you only just gotten back Viper? Are you alright?" he asks as he grabs her hand and forces her to sit on the couch.

Viper practically collapses into it. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a rather long mission with the Varia." She rubs her cheek once more. "I'm going to kill Belphegor if he keeps on doing this. In the future, I am never going to work with him again. He's going to be the death of me."

"He's not that bad." Tsunayoshi assures.

"_So Chibi even survived the Varia. It's better that the meeting was done under conditions like these. This should definitely help."_

"_Help? Help with what?" asks the boy, looking up at the man. _

_The man just smiles a bright smile "I can't tell you that Byakuran, you know how things like that are."_

"_I thought that rule only belonged to the Clam?" the boys asks, confused._

_The man shakes his head. "No, the Clam are the only ones allowed to break that rule. It's all for the better, you'll see"_

"Yeah? Well you aren't getting your cheeks pinched every five minutes. I really should start to charge him for doing that." She mumbles evilly.

"Well if he's a prince, then you can charge a really _huge_ fee can't you?" asks Tsunayoshi before he climbs off the sofa.

"I suppose I could. Even if he isn't a prince, the Varia Paycheck is rather large." She muses to herself as she watches the little boy leave the room.

"That's why you work for them right, for the money?" he asks from his new position.

"Well yes. Basically. Money makes the world go round and brings happiness." She sighs, before trying to figure out what Tsunayoshi is doing. He returns a few moments later with a small pot of something in his hands. He climbs back onto the sofa and stays elevated on his knees to be around her height.

"I don't see how that works. You don't need money to be happy" he says. He didn't have to pay for each smile or laugh he heard from the others. He didn't need money to stay by their side. Undoing the lid of the pot, he puts his fingers in the moisturiser and starts to rub it into her inflamed cheeks.

"In this day and age you do." She informs, letting the boy do as he pleases. "If we had no money, we'd be on the streets. You'd be more worried about your next meal than on how to be happy. However with money comes stability and the possibility to create happiness based upon that stability."

"Huh?" is Tsunayoshi's intelligent reply. He was careful with how close he got to Viper. He respected her privacy and never took advantage of his close position to try and peak under the hood. He did the exact same to Bermuda and never questioned the man's reasons for wearing bandages to cover his face.

"Since we have money, we don't have to worry about not having a roof over our heads, or about finding food. We are confident that nothing around us is going to change. So with the basics covered you have more time to socialise, get to know other people or to find a hobby that you can find happiness in. Plus, since you don't have to worry about them, you aren't as stressed and have the ability to feel happiness rather than feeling worried."

"Oh I see." Says Tsunayoshi, moving onto the other cheek.

"Maybe you should ask someone who has the experience to make a valid opinion on the subject" says Viper turning her head so that Tsunayoshi could reach the other cheek.

"Really? But I don't know anyone who used to live on the streets" informs Tsunayoshi, a small frown of concentration of his face.

"Yes you do. Lancia" points out Viper.

_The man in the trees gapes at the small boys before him._

"_But, but! He shouldn't be born yet! Not for another year yet. In fact, Hayato shouldn't have found out about his mother for another 4 years yet."_

"_Ah-hmm-hmm. That's the thing about parallel worlds. Everything happens at different times. If Tsunayoshi hadn't been with Hayato then, Hayato wouldn't have gone to get him a drink and found out like he did. In the case before us, all it takes is for one event to change. All it takes is for that boy's parents to go on a date that they didn't, or decide the time was right now instead of then. After all, parallel worlds pivot on change."_

"_You've been talking to yourself haven't you? I'm sure I had that speech before I came here." The man looks sidewards at the small boy who knew far more than he should._

"_Well with you here, I might as well learn this now. Parallel worlds are __**my**__ domain, Mr. Time Traveller."_

When Tsunayoshi makes a questioning noise, she continues "Lancia used to live on the streets for a few years. The Family he is with now picked him up and trained him to be a bodyguard. He's especially loyal to them to thank them for what they have done for him. So he could tell you."

"Hmm, I'll have to ask one day. Maybe when I understand things a little more. For now, all I need to know is that I'm happy when you are with me. You and all of the others." He leans back to inspect his work and gives Viper a beautiful smile. When her cheeks go red once more, he starts to panic. "Oh no, it didn't work. I was sure it was"

Viper hugs the little boy. "Thank you Tsunayoshi. I feel a lot better now. And you doing this for me can be payment for the information I just told you okay."

Tsunayoshi nods and hugs her back. "Okay Viper"

"Did you know Tsunayoshi, that hugging people is good for the body?" asks Verde, interrupting their hug. Tsunayoshi turns his head in Verde's direction but doesn't let go. Nor does Viper for she knows that Verde won't tease her over it. "It releases Endorphins and makes people feel happier. Those in relationships that hug daily have a stronger and happier bond than those who do not"

"Heehee, so that must be why I've got a good relationship with all of you then!" chimes Tsunayoshi giggling.

"Hmm, maybe so" remarks Verde, before turning his back on them "Come on, breakfast is ready."

Tsunayoshi jumps up and runs into the kitchen where he finds a few of the others already seated. Lal and Colonnello were on a mission for today and should be back later on- they had left late last night. The same was true of Reborn, although his missions never took very long.

"Hmm, oh Bermuda, you're here today?" Bermuda wasn't always here since he had the Vendicare to take care of. However he made the effort to sleep and eat here as much as possible. He must have finished telling the Naughty Carcassa off then. Tsunayoshi goes and jumps on him, settling himself in for breakfast. Luce had to be careful now where she stepped since the chains he constantly wore were spread around the floor. However Bermuda always kept them as close to him as possible to save space and always moved them if she needed it.

"Are you going to come with me today?" he asks, leaning backwards to rest against him and look upwards at him.

Bermuda sighs "I wish I could Tsunayoshi. However I and the rest of the Vindice have a fearsome reputation that we have built up. It needs to be that way so that the Mafia follow the rules we enforce. As a result, most Families would be too scared to willingly let me in their house for a social call. It wouldn't create a very good atmosphere."

Tsunayoshi frowns at that. "Hmm, well we need to change that. You are a really nice person after all. Reborn is scary to most of the others but they still let him in their houses."

Verde taps his fingers against the table top. "It's a shame that you won't take off the cloak you are wearing. I've been working on an invisibility suit and could do with a guinea-pig to test run it for me. That way you'd be able to join in with the outing, and as long as you reigned in your aura, you'd be unnoticed."

Viper sighs. "I suppose I could sort that out. But you know"

"It would cost money" laughs Tsunayoshi. "Fine Viper add it to my tab then"

"T-Tsunayoshi! You know what you've just said right?" stutters Skull in a scared panic. Tsunayoshi nods before tilting his head to the side in question. "If you agree to give Viper money she'll hound you for it for the rest of your life! And even if you die she'd just resurrect you with her black magic! Or maybe she'd follow you into hell to make you pay up! There is no way to get away from her." Tsunayoshi laughs at Skull's words thinking they were a joke. Skull however, was deathly serious. "Or at least give her cash so she can't add credit interest!" Hmm, Skull seemed strangely wise on ways to counteract Viper, he must have a lot of experience then.

Viper glares at Skull for the insults before she sits down at her place on the table. "What you are forgetting Skull, is that there are many ways for Tsunayoshi to make money. In fact, he already has made quite a bit of money and is well on the way to paying off his debt." The rest of the table look at her suspiciously, wondering what she is on about. Tsunayoshi wasn't old enough to get a job, even by Mafia Standards. And if you are wondering what the debt is for, Viper charged him for every chore she had to do for him as he was growing up. Things like changing his diapers, making a bottle of milk and feeding him and other things like that. Viper made sure to remember each and every time and charge him for them. She should make money for her working time after all.

"Viper. What have you done now?" asks Luce, falsely sweet due to her protective instinct. There was no way Viper was making Tsunayoshi work, she would not allow it.

Everyone sees Viper's smirk and wonder what piece of information she has for blackmail this time. "I wouldn't turn the blame onto me Luce. After all, you were the one who made Tsunayoshi work, not me" Viper says slyly. The others turn to Luce, shocked that their Boss is to blame for… whatever it was she had done. Reaching inside her cloak Viper pulls out some pieces of paper and lays them onto the table. Everyone leans over to see…

Tsunayoshi's cosplay photos.

"They've been selling rather well I must admit." Smiles Viper, remembering all of that cold hard cash in her hands. Even taking out money for the printer and ink, there was still tonnes and tonnes of profit. What she wasn't going to tell the others was the silencing fees she had charged on top of it. Certain people *coughVariacough*, especially Families known for their hard and merciless nature, didn't want others to know they had purchased photos of the unbelievably cute boy.

"So which one sold the best?" Verde asked. This would be good research material on Human Nature. A study to see what types of images people who were known for their ruthlessness liked. Before Viper could even say anything, Verde slid a pile of notes across the table. She had them well trained.

Knowing exactly what information Verde was really looking for, Viper commented "Well, there were certain ones that sold well because of their normalcy. The one of Tsunayoshi dressed up as Reborn was quite popular since most Mafioso wear suits, so it's a natural choice that people won't be embarrassed to pick out. However, getting to the more interesting ones…" The others at the table lean in closer, interested to see what others thought of their cute little boy. "Mafia Bosses's wives quite liked the Easter Bunny. But the one I'm most surprised about is this one"

Viper picks one photo up and shows it to the rest of the table. The others can't believe the result.

It's the one of Tsunayoshi dressed up as the Cervello.

_The man in the trees had watched the chaos inside the Cervello House and starts to wonder about these women. His experience with them wasn't the best, nor has it gotten better in recent years._

"_A friend of mine once asked me why these women were involved in a certain conflict involving the Tri-ni-set. It most likely didn't help that they were with the enemy rather than with Vongola. What he doesn't know, is that before Decimo's disappearance, Byakuran and Decimo had a meeting with them. It was his first meeting with Byakuran actually, the one in which he was 'killed'. The way Byakuran worded himself, as childish as he, er you are, made it sound as if they were going to play a game: if he collected the Tri-Ni-Set then he won, if Decimo defeated him then Decimo won. God knows how, but these women appeared at that time and claimed that they were going to judge this game. Both of them agreed that they would rather have the Cervello oversee this than the Vindice. So they did. And with him gone, they went to the next person involved. Irie Shoichi. Who technically is Vongola. It does make me wonder why the Vindice didn't get involved with that incident…"_

_The white haired boy couldn't answer that question since he didn't know what went through the minds of the Vindice any better than the man next to him did._

They all look at Viper, wondering if she's lying. Not that she was known for lying.

"Lots of people looked at it, but I think they were too embarrassed to actually buy it. However a lot of people blushed at it."

"But I don't like wearing that one" complains Tsunayoshi. "That wig was itchy and hot"

"And you won't be wearing it again" orders Reborn. Tsunayoshi smiles in thanks.

"Well, I believe it's time to be getting dressed, right Tsunayoshi" says Verde, standing up from the table. He had enough notes for now. The conclusion: Tsunayoshi affected everyone.

Tsunayoshi drinks the last of his juice and jumps down from the table. "See you guys in a minute then!" he says before running after Verde.

Tsunayoshi stops when he enters Verde's room. His eyes are drawn to the huge white bandage wrapped around the scientist's shoulder. A wound Verde had got protecting him. Tsunayoshi looks down in guilt.

Cold fingers press on his chin and suddenly he's looking up into framed eyes. "Don't." says Verde sternly. "This is not your fault." All Tsunayoshi can do is look away, knowing he can't win the fight. Verde stands back up and turns to put his green shirt on. "And anyway, it's given me a chance to create a medicine to try and fix the problem quicker than normal" Tsunayoshi feels a little better at that. When Verde sighs in exasperation, Tsunayoshi looks up. Verde is holding a lab coat. Nothing wrong with that, right? Apart from the fact that it definitely not his size. But it was a perfect fit for someone else in the room

Tsunayoshi claps his hands and runs to grab the item from Verde's hold. "Yay! I've always wanted to wear one of these."

Verde doesn't really mind him wearing it, although wonders where Luce got it from. At least it was one of her more conservative outfits. And Tsunayoshi did look nice wearing it, he had to admit.

As Tsunayoshi comes bounding down the stairs, Luce is waiting with one more item to add to the outfit. He blinks up at her and then grins widely. She's grinning too as she places the glasses on his face. Now there was the world's cutest scientist parading around the house.

"Are you ready Tsunayoshi?" asks Viper, who is standing next to the front door with Bermuda. Tsunayoshi nods and runs over to them. Bermuda chuckles over Tsunayoshi's happiness.

As they walk out of the doors, Tsunayoshi can't tell when Viper starts the illusion, but he does notice that others can't see Bermuda. Walking down the street, he can't help but giggle mischievously as he watches everyone else passing without noticing that the scariest person in the Mafia is standing right next to them. Verde and Viper just watch the boy with amused smiles on their faces. Bermuda though, is still getting used to the feeling. He and the rest of the Vindice had never needed to use illusions since they could come and go as they pleased. They had their own ways of watching everyone without being detected.

_This is it. The chance I've been waiting for. Luce is watching a soap opera and won't check on Tsunayoshi for another hour. None of the other Arcobaleno are in the house. There is no better time than this. I can complete the most important part of the plan. We've all worked too hard on this plan for it to fail now. I will accomplish my mission. __Thinks the Man in the Trees to himself. So jumping down from his perch, he walks over to the Arcobaleno house's gate._

_Everything has been going well so far. Tsunayoshi, boy it sounds weird thinking that, anyway, he's started to build up good relationships with every Family on Mafia Row. All of the Families know who he is and find him cute, adorable and generally loveable. That's just what we need. The Mafia needs to be more joined, more like one big Family and hopefully Tsunayoshi, I'm not going to get over how weird that sounds, will be able to accomplish that. Hopefully he can win this person over too. I found out about them too late to be able to do anything. With this Family, we will be able to stop the threat. I sure hope so._

_With his hopes riding on the small boy on the other side of the gate, he unlocks it and cracks it open. Leaving before Tsunayoshi can notice him, he hides back in the trees to watch._

_The man in the trees smiles at this reaction from the other members of the Mafia. He even took a video of it. It was undeniable proof that their plan was working. That things were on their way to being fixed. He couldn't wait to show this to the others._

_The members of Vongola Version Vigilante look on at the little boy. Vongola Primo smiles, glad that Tsunayoshi's intuition had lead him to what he needed to find. He looks up into the trees and smiles once more. It seemed that everything was going to be alright. "Did you remember what I said Tsunayoshi?"_

"_Yeah I did. Be like the Sky and accept all" Tsunayoshi smiles before continuing on._

So the feeling of being surrounded in Mist Flames was new to him. It was hard to fight his natural instinct to shake the flames off. The Vindice had a reasonable resistance to Mist Flames and illusions in general, not a full resistance, but there were very few illusionists that could create a successful illusion on them. Viper was one of the few who could. However, this time, since the illusion was helping him instead of hindering him, he'd allow it for now. Even if he did hate the feeling. And just as he's wondering why on earth he, the Boss of the Vindice, is allowing such an uncomfortable feeling to persist, Tsunayoshi turns around and smiles at him, extremely happy to be out with Bermuda. Oh yeah, that's the reason.

* * *

><p>Verde leads them down Mafia Row, to a house next to Dino's house and opposite to the Shimon's house. It was right next to the Mafia Central road. Verde walks up to the gate and places his hand on some sort of square box. Tsunayoshi's eyes widen as it lights up green and then suddenly the gate opens up. <em>That. Was. So. Cool.<em> In his opinion.

So holding the gate open, he lets the three others enter the mansion grounds before firmly shutting it behind him. Bermuda didn't have to be worried about getting caught on Camera either. Viper's illusions were strong enough to affect machinery like that, and very little research into Flames had happened, meaning there were currently no counter measures.

The garden is filled with plants and flowers. Scientists in white lab coats were running around checking up on them, taking measurements and doing general maintenance. Tsunayoshi's lips turn upwards slightly as the scientists ignore them. It seemed to be a Scientist thing- whenever Verde was involved in an experiment, he ignored the rest of the world around him. Tsunayoshi seemed to be the only exception to that rule. So he wasn't surprised to find that these scientists were so into their experiments that the guests were being ignored. Due to his time with Verde, Tsunayoshi also knew to stay far away from the experiments and to touch nothing in case he disrupts it.

They enter the house to find an actual house. Tsunayoshi was expecting a laboratory. Verde smirks at the downfallen face Tsunayoshi has on and leads then through the house, down a corridor and stop infront of a door. Verde scans his hand once again and the wall infront of them splits, revealing an elevator. Tsunayoshi's jaw drops once more, amazed with all of the cool gadgets this Family seemed to have. All enter the elevator and travel down to the basement, where Tsunayoshi finally finds his Laboratory. Around the laboratory there is a lot going on; chemicals are being mixed, boiled, condensed and changing colour. In a different part, the sound of electric machinery can be heard with automatic screwdrivers tending to robots (Which Tsunayoshi is sure to stay away from), and types of weapons. It is here that Verde stops.

In front of them is a man who has a hammer in one hand and a baby in the other. And no, he was not using the hammer on the baby. This man was trying to juggle both at once, looking after the child whilst trying to fix the piece of machinery in front of him. Verde knew from experience how hard this could be, and takes a side glance at Tsunayoshi.

The man turns around when he feels eyes watching him and finally notices their Guests (minus one of course, Viper was doing an excellent job at hiding Bermuda). He puts the hammer down, readjusts the baby in his arm and holds a hand out to Verde. "Ahh, Verde, nice to see you again"

"And you too Tori" says Verde as he shakes the man's hand.

"Miss Mammon, how nice it is to see you again. I'm sure your visits are becoming more frequent. Actually, I might be able to make a graph to prove that…" Tori starts to look around for some paper and a pen, neither of which are in sight.

"That's fine." Says Viper hurriedly, preferring not to have to wait for him to draw a graph. That would have been a waste of time, and wasting time is wasting money and Viper does not waste money therefore she doesn't waste her time either.

"Oh, ah, okay. And is there a reason behind the increase in frequency? I don't dare to hypothesize that you have a growing interest in Science." Beady eyes blink behind framed glasses, truly interested in the reason. Viper was the most unscientific person in the Arcobaleno due to her job as a psychic and an illusionist. Both weren't scientifically proven yet- although little study had gone into how Mist Flames worked. It was unlikely that she would be interested in the subject that aims to prove her mystical powers aren't mystical at all, but scientific analysis and guess work based upon statistics.

Both Illusionist and Scientist step to the side to let Tsunayoshi be seen. He peers up and smiles at the rather eccentric man before him. "May I introduce to you the Boss of the Bovino Family, Vittorio." Tsunayoshi smiles and waves. "Tori, this is Tsunayoshi"

The lab goes eerily silent in a heartbeat and all of the scientists in the area stop and stare in their direction. Whispers start and soon fill the air before they all come over to investigate. Tsunayoshi would find their analytical and evaluating stares intimidating if he didn't receive the same look from Verde (and to be honest, most of the others every now and again) reasonably often.

"His height is slightly lower than the average 4 year old male."

"Same with his weight, although I highly suspect this is due to him having a more physically fit and muscular body than most 4 year olds"

"Indeed. It would be reasonable to assume that this is from the training and physical activity the other Arcobaleno have put him through"

"Agreed. The main suspects would be Reborn, Colonnello, Lal and possibly Fon."

Tsunayoshi looks from person to person since they were talking about him. He didn't know **why **they were talking about him though. They continued their conversation for quite a while before Tsunayoshi finally deemed they had gotten to the point

"So why?

"Indeed why?"

"Why is Verde-sama so interested in him?"

_"Are you going to tell me why you are so interested in Tsunayoshi?" asks Byakuran, looking up at the man next to him._

_"Because Tsunayoshi is important of course" replies the man, serious for once._

_"Humhmm, he does make for an interesting toy." Byakuran smiles before popping another marshmallow into his mouth._

_"I would never toy with Tsunayoshi. And you shouldn't either. I have it on good authority that you lose"_

_"That's no fun"_

_"And in a way, You have the people in that house to blame"_

_"The Cow Clan? Even I know they are no threat. The adults in the house keep telling us stories about all of the funny things the Bovino's have produced accidentally"_

_"For a load of intelligent scientists, they have no common sense. And I know that they don't even see it. They don't even notice half of the malfunctions their products have. But I suppose they did come up with one good thing: the thing that brought your demise"_

_"I wish you'd stop talking like that. I'm not the Byakuran you know. So stop saying 'you'. It's rather rude." The man nods his head in apology. "Gonna tell me what it is?"_

_"A time travel device"_

Tsunayoshi crossed his arms and put a cute frown on his face. They made it sound as if he wasn't worthy of Verde or something. Like it was wrong for him to be with Verde. And that just wasn't right. He feels Bermuda pat him on the head gently, agreeing silently with Tsunayoshi. The small boy smiles back at him before watching as the cloaked man walks away. Bermuda was actually going to take the opportunity to look around at the experiments and to make sure everything was following Mafia Law. The Bovino's had never been in trouble before, but there was always a first time for everything.

Verde finishes his conversation with Tori at around the time the Bovino scientists/ Mafiosi ask the all-important question.

"Tsunayoshi is deceptive" Verde answers for them "Whilst looking innocent and normal, he is anything but. He is far more intelligent that any normal child and a lot more intuitive. He was the most interesting specimen I had seen in a long time. Even I haven't figured out the formula behind his magnetic personality."

"Because I'm not a magnet, nor made of metal silly" smiles Tsunayoshi. He knew what a magnet was; He used them to stick his pictures to the fridge. Verde had also showed him how to make pretty pictures using a magnet and iron shavings. The adults laugh before going back to their conversation. However Tsunayoshi quickly found out that he didn't understand a word they were saying any longer. He didn't realise that words got that big. So doing what children did best, he moved on and decided to go and look at the baby Vittorio was still holding onto.

Since the baby was being held over the Boss's shoulder, Tsunayoshi stood on the other side of the desk to be able to see the baby's face. The baby had lots of black hair that looked almost dark green when the light shone on it just right. He also had huge emerald eyes.

"Hello, I'm Tsunayoshi" he smiles, waving at the boy.

The baby waves back as best as it can before placing a hand on its head and saying "Lambo!"

"Is your name Lambo then?" Asks Tsunayoshi.

The boy pats his hand against his face a few more times, stating "Lambo, Lambo, Lambo~" Tsunayoshi assumed this was a yes.

"Yes, Tsunayoshi, that's Lambo, the newest addition to the Bovino Family." Says Viper, interrupting her conversation with Vittorio for a few moments.

Vittorio looks over his shoulder at the baby he's holding and smiles. "His first word, and the only one so far, was his own name. We're not sure if it's a sign of arrogance or because that was the word said to him the most." Tsunayoshi wondered why his intuition was leaning towards the first option.

So far the boy hadn't stopped grinning at him and seemed far more interested in him than anything else around. The baby reached one tiny hand out towards him and made a grabbing motion. Tsunayoshi smiles gently at this and reaches his own hand towards the boy. However his eyebrows furrow and a frown adorns his face when the baby totally ignores his hand and keeps on reaching for Tsunayoshi. He even wiggles his fingers to make sure the baby had noticed them. Tsunayoshi pouts and brings his hand back to him, but is surprised when the baby's smile gets even bigger. He looks at the child strangely and finally notices that the baby's eyes aren't even on him. Instead they are slightly lower… Looking down, he notices the corner of a sweet wrapper poking out of his shirt pocket. He points at the sweet and the child gurgles happily and claps his hands before reaching even more excitedly for the sweet.

"Lambo's!" the child shouts. Tsunayoshi takes a step backwards and shakes his head, whilst his hands go over his heart to protect the sweet.

"No, It's Tsunayoshi's" says Tsunayoshi, shaking his head and unconsciously copying the baby's own habit of using 3rd person.

"Lambo's!"

"Tsunayoshi's!"

"Lambo's!"

"Tsunayoshi's!"

"Lambo's!"

"Tsunayoshi's!"

"LAMBO'S!" Shouts the baby for the final time. Tsunayoshi had another one of those weird feelings, like he'd done this before. Yet how could he when he's never even met Lambo before? He did feel oddly attached to the boy though.

Whilst in the middle of throwing a tantrum, the baby bangs the piece of machinery on the table.

Hearing the shouting match Verde, Viper, Vittorio and the rest of the Bovino all turn around, only to find…

**A huge cloud of pink smoke.**

* * *

><p>"Tsunayoshi" shouts Viper, rushing towards the pink smoke.<p>

"Vittorio! What was that?" shouts Verde, looking at the man who was working on the machine. Verde take a look at it and finds it a purple bazooka. So maybe it was just a magic trick, or maybe it was for parties or something for fun. Yeah, for fun, it had to be…

"That was the 10 year Bazooka" says Vittorio.

Verde turns to him, green lightening flames crackling around him and making his hair even more spiky than usual. "You are playing with time again? You know the problems we had brining V3 here! What in the name of Science were you doing?"

Vittorio takes a step away from Verde, not having seen him like this for a very long time. "It's harmless, honest. It does as the name suggests and swaps whoever is hit with their self 10 years into the future. The effect only lasts for 5 minutes and then they are swapped back… I hope. I was still working out some kinks."

Eyes return to the pink smoke when an aura very different from Tsunayoshi's emanates from that area. It was colder, stronger, more adult and highly dangerous.

"Oh Sugar Honey Iced Tea"

Well, if the Bazooka really worked, then it was to be suspected that the voice would be deeper, but not that deep.

The smoke clears and Viper finds herself face to face with burning orange eyes. The man- for it's definitely not the 14 year old they were suspecting- looks around himself and grimaces. As his eyes wonder around the room, he spots the Bazooka. He grabs it, throws it to the floor before jumping on the pieces and shouting at it. "Every time! Every time it's always this darn thing! My life would be so much easier if it had never been invented!"

Suddenly remembering where he is, he looks up like a deer in the headlights before he stops jumping and smiles nervously at them. "Hahaa. Sorry about that" The others stare blankly on at the man before them, having no clue what they should do or say. The Bazooka had never been fired before.

"So I am to assume that you are Tsunayoshi" says Verde, gathering his mental wits first. The man nods his head.

"Well duh… Uncle Verde" the pause was slight and hardly noticeable.

"So how old are you?" asks Vittorio, since the '10 year' part of the Bazooka seemed to be off a little.

"Oh, I'm 24. Did the 14 year old me use the Bazooka again?" The 'Tsunayoshi' asks, once more with the slightest pause. That made sense, having a 20 year jump. Tsunayoshi had grown up quite a bit in those long years. He looked smart, professional and cool, unlike the cute and adorable self he was now. But it was still there.

"No. 4 year old Tsunayoshi was caught in the blast by accident" informs Verde, looking the man up and down. One thing that caught his eye was the ring on his finger. Well, it was two rings really, connected by a chain. Noticing this, 'Tsunayoshi' was quick to move them out of sight. He would have taken them off if it was possible.

"Ohh~ really that hasn't happened for a while. Ahh, Uncle Bermuda's just joined us then." 'Tsunayoshi' sings happily.

"That's right, just a few weeks ago. So what's the future like?" asks Viper. She changes her illusion so this new person could see Bermuda, who had run back into the room after all of the shouting. Tsunayoshi discretely waves and nods at him, understanding that he couldn't outright talk to the cloaked man.

Both adults notice the flash of worry pass through the man's eyes, but only because they know Tsunayoshi so well. "Haha, You'd have to pay me for that information Sis"

Viper takes in a small breath "Sis?" she asks.

'Tsunayoshi' rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah well, you didn't want me calling you Auntie since you said it made you sound old. Plus you are the second youngest after Skull"

"Who cares about that?" interrupts Vittorio barging his way to stand directly infront of 'Tsunayoshi' with a clip board and a pen in his hands. Lambo had been passed onto someone else in favour of this latest scientific discovery. A microphone was also shoved into 'Tsunayoshi's' face along with a camcorder. Another Bovino scientist stood nearby with a laptop to type notes on.

"So, what new discoveries have been made in the future? Are we living in space yet? Are robots doing all of the cleaning? Do cars no longer have wheels?"

"C'mon guys" laughs 'Tsunayoshi', not at all fazed by all of the questions, or the amount of people crowding around him. If Viper had anything to say, it looked like he was used to it. "You're supposed to be smart. I can't tell you that in case I change the future."

"_Huh? Who are you?"_

* * *

><p>After the pink smoke clears, Tsunayoshi finds himself somewhere totally new. For starters he was outside. Next he was in a tree. And finally, he was sat next to Byakuran.<p>

"Marshmallow?" Asks Byakuran taking this all in his stride as usual. Although he didn't actually have a clue what was going on.

"Huh? Where am I?" asks Tsunayoshi looking around himself. "It must have something to do with that weird Bazooka." He finally looks at Byakuran and the packet of marshmallows. "Thank you" he smiles, taking one. "I guess I had better be going back now. Do you want to come?"

Byakuran smiles a rather weird and downright dangerous smile. "I wouldn't miss it for the world"

Tsunayoshi didn't know what there was to be that happy over but shrugged and proceeded to carefully climb down the tree and back to the Bovino household. After knocking and getting someone to let him and Byakuran back into the house, he finds his way back to the Laboratory.

There he finds everyone talking to a strange man he'd never seen before. But he was sure he had. He was sure he'd seen this man before now.

"Huh? Who are you?"

Everyone looks over a the new voice to see no one else but little ol' cute Tsunayoshi…

Wait…

4 year old Tsunayoshi?

But shouldn't he be in the future?

Whilst eyes are in the other direction, 'Tsunayoshi' face palms and shakes his head. _In the name of Primo WHY ME! Why does it all happen to me? I'd rather be in the middle of an all-out Guardian Fight than be here. I'd rather be back at my desk doing paperwork! No, C'mon pull yourself together, Reborn didn't teach you for nothing. Everything will be fine as long as his blood…_

Tsunayoshi looks at the man and images flash infront of his eyes. He stumbles forwards as it almost feels as if his blood is pulling him towards this man. The images come faster and harder and the pain in his head builds and builds.

"You're… That man, from back then. The one with the needle. No! Stay away from me. You've already gotten me twice. No more!" Tsunayoshi takes a few steps backwards, shaking his head violently.

"_**Mama isn't looking is she?" **_

"_**No, she's still on her bed mourning over Iemitsu leaving once more."**_

"_**Heya there little guy. There's nothing to be afraid of"**_

**"Kufufu~**_**, says the man with a needle in his hand. Are you sure you can do this though? To yourself no less?"**_

"_**And you have a better suggestion for who to choose? I believe there is a reason you are the Mist and I am the Sky and not the other way around. If we used you, Mini-Muku would destroy Estraneo completely and we'd be fighting you rather than Byakuran as ruler of the world. Plus, this plan wouldn't be able to work if it was used on anybody other than myself. Unless you suddenly have a blood connection to Primo"**_

_**The other man looks away. "Oya, Someone's full of themselves." **_

"_**Heh, I'm no longer 14 anymore. And you can blame Reborn for that." He looks back at the baby. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you. You'll be under more pressure than I am. But at least you won't know it. Good Luck Tsunayoshi" **_

_**He takes a vial from his pocket filled with a bright red substance. **_

"Tsunayoshi? Are you alright?" Viper rushes forwards and kneels by the side of her little boy. She goes to place a hand on his shoulder to calm him. However Tsunayoshi looks up at her with shining scared eyes.

"_**Gathering the last of one's strength just to hide their unsightly corpse, a common trait in female illusionists"**_

"No, stay back! You're part of the Varia. You're going to kill me… No you wouldn't do that. You love me"

Verde comes over, never having observed this behaviour in His Subject before. "Tsunayoshi. Get yourself together."

"V-V-Verde! Don't hurt the other Arcobaleno. Don't harm Lambo. No, you wouldn't do that!" Tsunayoshi closes his eyes, presses his hands against his head harder, trying to get these awful and totally wrong images out of his head. These are not the people he knows!

_**"I am going to undo this curse placed on me and I won't let anyone get in my way"**_

"Tsunayoshi, what are you saying? You are no longer making any sense" says Bermuda, patting the boy on the head.

Tsunayoshi's head shoots up and his eyes go wide. "Bermuda! You can't kill Reborn! I won't let you! No you wouldn't do that either."

"_**You'll die. Defeating Checkerface means destroying the whole Pacifier System and the Arcobaleno will disappear. Of course this means me and the Vindice too"**_

He looks at them confusion clear in his face. "What's going on? It hurts. Make it stop. Help me"

All three Arcobaleno jump forwards as Tsunayoshi's eyes roll up and he faints. Viper picks Tsunayoshi up and holds him close whilst the other two turn to the older 'Tsunayoshi' who shouldn't even be here.

"Who are you really? What was Tsunayoshi talking about?" Demands Verde.

"Me? I don't have a clue what he's talking about." Says 'Tsunayoshi' taking a few steps backwards. The further away from the boy he was the better.

"You should though. You're him from the future, therefore you'd know exactly what he's going on about" accuses Verde.

Once again there was that nervous laugh "Hahaa, yeah… of course I do"

There is another pink cloud of smoke. Viper feels her arms suddenly get heavier. The smoke clears and Tsunayoshi is passed out of the floor infront of them, and 'Tsunayoshi' is being held by Viper.

"Damn" _I'm really starting to hate the stupid Bazooka. Every problem stems from the blasted thing. _ He goes to get out of Viper's hold but finds his body frozen. She's not letting go either.

"You aren't going anywhere. Now whilst I may not be a scientist, even I know something isn't right. For you to swap places like that means you were already in our time, rather than in the future like you are supposed to be. So explain yourself before I set my Spirit Eaters on you."

"Heeii! Not the Ouroboros. Fon's the only one to survive that so far" He quickly shuts his mouth as soon as he says that.

"I've never used it on Fon before." She growls

"Hahmm, Maybe not in this world you haven't. But in his world, you seem to have done so" inputs Byakuran. He smiles when the imposter gives him a death glare.

"You're not helping Byakuran" he growls

"And why should I after what you've done to Tsunayoshi?" Byakuran asks, pointing a small hand in the direction of the boy still on the floor.

"You said world, not time. What do you mean by that?"

"You understand the theory behind Alternate Dimensions?" Verde nods his head "Well, he's from one of them"

"That still does not explain why Tsunayoshi claims he was attacked with a needle by this man" inputs Bermuda, his chains hovering close to the intruder.

"That..um. I can… I can explain!" pleas the man as the chains get closer and closer to him.

"Oh you'll explain alright. And I'll be getting the truth too" says Viper, her voice dangerously sly and sweet. She raises her hands and places them on either side of the man's temples.

"No! Mammon stop it. As your Boss I order you to stop" says the man in panic, knowing exactly what she was planning to do.

"He, I don't know which world you come from, but in this one Tsunayoshi calls me Viper and you are not my Boss."

"Viper, stop scaring the poor boy. He's only trying to save the world as we know it"

The people in the room whirl around at yet another new voice. This time it was Vongola Primo who had arrived.

"You had better explain this Primo" warns Verde, having had enough of not knowing the answers.

"But Primo, Sir. Won't this affect the plan?" asks the older Tsunayoshi. The three Arcobaleno take a look backwards at him and are surprised to find him kneeling to Primo. Just like Tsunayoshi had once done before.

"Of course not. If anything it'll improve it. Now stand up straight and tell them the reason you are in this world and time. I'm sure they'll understand once you explain yourself properly" Explains Primo, sounding rather like a teacher

"Yes Primo." Says the man. He stands and faces the three confused Arcobaleno. "My name is Sawada 'Tsuna' Tsunayoshi, also known as Vongola Decimo and Godfather of the Mafia. I am from an alternate dimension rather similar to this one, but with a few major changes. I am here, in this time and dimension, to try and save not only my world, but all of the others, including this one"

"Saving the world… That's rather extreme." Scoffs Verde.

"Well, let me explain. In my timeline, there is this Organisation that claim to be saving the world from Sin. They are some religious organisation that happen to have stumbled upon the existence of Flames. When they found out that the Mafia were the only people using these Flames, they decided it was a Sin against their god and claimed war upon us. They exposed our existence, and the existence of Flames to the General Public. There was outrage at the secret of Flames being hidden from them and the General Public turned against us too. However, the Mafia was weak due to all of the internal fights we were having. So when the General Public turned against us and attacked us, the Mafia Families were unable to defend themselves."

"Sure that sounds bad, but what does it have to do with us and our dimension?" asks Bermuda.

Tsuna looks a little sheepish at this. "After the Bovino had managed to make a time traveling device" and he gestures to the broken Bazooka on the floor "They next set their sights on making one to jump worlds. They recently managed to complete it. However when this Organisation attacked their base, the machine was stolen. We believe they used this Machine to reveal the existence of the Flames and the Mafia's use of them to the Public in every world they went to. We confirmed this when the Bovino managed to make another one. We are currently losing the battle in every dimension too since they have better technology than we do."

"Okay, but that still doesn't tell us why this time and dimension specifically" questions Verde

"I'm getting to that. By the time we realised the threat and banded together against them, over half of the Mafia had been destroyed. We were already weak from internal fighting. And even when we finally got together, we still couldn't co-operate. So Vongola decided that it would be a good idea to go back in time and make sure that the Mafia grew up to be closer and more like one big Family, so that when the time came, we wouldn't be as weak and could work better together. As we were looking for the best place to implement this plan, we spotted this dimension, which has something rather unique"

"And that is…?" prompts Viper, following along so far.

"Mafia Row" reveals Tsuna. "This is the only dimension where the plans for Mafia Row are approved and the Island is built. With everyone in one place most of the time, it would be easier to get everyone to get along and not be rivals so much."

"But why are you watching Tsunayoshi so much?" asks Byakuran. Most people had forgotten that the boy was still even there.

"Well, I, er he, er us… We have a very strong Harmony factor to our Sky Flames. In the future we are one of the only people to be able to unite the Mafia Families. So I thought that Chibi-me could do a good job at uniting them earlier in the time line."

"But why at such a young age?" Byakuran asks once more.

"So it would be easier for him. If I suddenly showed up and told him he needed to befriend every Mafia Boss, I knew my younger self wouldn't be able to do it. I hoped that the charms of a child would ease the way slightly also. And so far it seems to have worked. Tsunayoshi seems to have charmed most of the Mafia Bosses on the island. How they responded when they thought Bermuda was going to attack him is very good proof."

There were other reasons too for choosing this time and dimension. This world was one where the Arcobaleno were living together. In his world, the Arcobaleno had done the best job against the new threat, yet like the Mafia, their internal strife and fights had stopped them working as a single unit and had decreased their strength. Tsuna had placed Tsunayoshi with them in the hopes that bringing up the baby would help them to get along. More importantly, he had given Tsunayoshi to them so that Tsunayoshi would grow up to be stronger than he was. He'd only started to learn how to fight and use his Flames at the age of 14. If Tsunayoshi started earlier and learnt a wider range, then he'd have a better chance against the Organisation. Similar was true of the Vindice. Once again, Mafia Row was the only place where they were visible and easily accessible. Tsuna had befriended the Vindice too late for them to be able to help with the War. That's why he had helped Tsunayoshi bring Bermuda into the Arcobaleno house. Being Ex-Arcobaleno themselves the Vindice were pretty strong in their own right.

"And where do you come into this Primo?" asks Bermuda, turning to face the blond Boss.

"Well, when you first pulled us out of our own time you accidentally went too far and we ended up in the middle of the future Tsuna has described. It truly was a horrible place. However, we stood even less of a chance since we didn't understand the culture nor the current technology of the time. So Tsuna sent us back to this time to help work on the relationship between the Mafia and the Public. If the Public didn't see us as an evil criminal organisation, or at least didn't hate us as much as they do, then they are less likely to turn against us and weaken us before the Religious Organisation attack. It just happens to coincide with the plans Nono and I had already decided on."

Verde and Vittorio thought over this. It was true they had had a hard time of bringing VCubed here to their time, so it was possible that they had gotten the calculations wrong and brought Primo to the wrong time.

"So what do you want us to do about it?" asks Viper carefully.

"Nothing. Just keep on going like you are. Just make sure that you teach Tsunayoshi how to defend himself and how to use his Flames some time soon. And make sure to give him every opportunity to interact with everyone else on Mafia Row. He seems to be doing a good enough job so far. I've heightened his Hyper Intuition to help him along his way." Explains Tsuna, looking over at the boy as best as he can. He was still frozen in place by Viper's illusion; she had reapplied it after the shock of Primo's arrival had passed. He couldn't get out of a Baby Mammon's illusion, so he doesn't suspect he could get out of an adult Mammon's one, even if she was less experienced.

"Talking about that, my own has been telling me I have something to do with it. Mind explaining that?" despite Primo's sweet tone, it was icy cold and demanding.

"Umm, I'd rather not." Says Tsunayoshi. Primo gives him a stern look and Tsuna looks down. "It's still a no Primo."

"Fine then, I'll just continue what I was going to do" says Viper. Before Tsuna can even protest, she's grabbed his head and purple flames have bloomed around them. She delves into his mind, fighting the resistance of Sky Flames the whole time.

_**He looks back at the baby. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you. You'll be under more pressure than I am. But at least you won't know it. Good Luck Tsunayoshi" **_

_**He takes a vial from his pocket filled with a bright red substance.**_

"_**And that is?" asks Mukuro.**_

_**Tsuna looks at the vial and sighs. "This is the Blood of Vongola Primo, Penalty, Talbot gave to me. With this it'll kick start Chibi's Hyper Intuition. Hopefully it'll be able to give him insight into the emotions of the others, and he'll be able to form tighter bonds with the other Mafia Bosses. He'll be able to understand them better and empathise with them, no matter their circumstances. Plus it will keep him alive longer and make him a better fighter."**_

_**Mukuro watches as Tsuna injects the baby with the blood of Vongola Primo. He watches as Tsuna repeats the process with a different vial of blood.**_

"_**And whose it that?"**_

"_**Mine. It'll provide Tsunayoshi with My form of Hyper Intuition which is already tailored to suit the people Tsunayoshi will be interacting with. Plus it's supposed to make your job easier."**_

_**Mukuro nods and reaches a hand down into the crib to touch the baby's forehead. "Don't expect me to do this for anyone else. I'm only co-operating with you to get those Religious bigots to shut up. And because my precious Chrome asked me to."**_

_**Tsuna smiles as Mukuro puts his hand on Tsuna's forehead. "Of course Mukuro" Flames bloom around them.  
><strong>_

_**What Mukuro was doing was copying all of Tsuna's memories and implanting them into the baby. It acts a lot like the Vongola Hyper Intuition and provides the Baby with information that Tsuna knew about the people around him. **_

"That explains so much" whispers Viper. Unlike the others, Viper had been inside of Tsunayoshi's head before and noticed the presence of Mist Flames there. However, no matter what she did, she couldn't break the flames to see what they were hiding. Now, though, she knew. To think that her student would get that strong.

"It explains how Tsunayoshi knew we and the Shimon should be dead." Says Primo, hand on chin in thought.

"It explains how he knew I should be with the Arcobaleno" says Bermuda.

If Tsunayoshi was awake to hear about it, it would explain far more. It would explain why certain things just felt right. It would explain why some times his intuition and his feelings didn't match up. It would explain why he had certain feelings towards people that were wrong. He would know why he recognised certain traits of people he had never met before- it would explain why he felt as if he had met them before.

"As you can tell, I've done everything I could think of to make sure that we can win this war. I've given Tsunayoshi all of the tools I can to help him on his way."

"What gives you the right to come in and do this to him like that?" asks Bermuda, stalking over to Tsuna and wrapping his chains tightly around him.

"I don't have the right. But what's done is done and you can't change that now. It's all for the better, I assure you." Says Tsuna, orange eyes staying calm. "If you don't like what I've done then kill me. I've fought you once before and I know that I'm no match. But killing me here isn't going to make the threat go away in 20 years. Nor is it going to undo the changes I've done to him." He looks at the other two Arcobaleno. "All you can do it to take good care of him, and let nature run its course. It's not going to negatively affect his life. He's grown up with it and won't know any different. So please…" Orange eyes return to the brown ones they know and it's so hard not to see the Tsunayoshi they know in this man's face. "Believe in me" The Arcobaleno found it hard not to listen to this man, wearing the same serious expression Tsunayoshi gave out sometimes.

*bzzt, crackle*

"Sky? Come in Juudaime?"

Tsuna sighs and tilts his head to the side. "Storm I'm a little busy at the moment"

"Ahh, I'm so sorry Juudaime. It's just that you didn't report in on time and I was getting worried. Please forgive my impudence. I should have known that everything was going fine. I was foolish to believe that something was wrong"

"Storm… Storm… Gokudera… Hayato!"

"Yes Juudaime?" 

"I said I'm in the middle of something, just wait a little bit longer"

"Not happening Dame-Tsuna. You should know better than to keep me waiting"

"Reborn, I'm not 10 you know. I can stay out past my curfew"

"If you stayed out of trouble then maybe I would let you out later. However I suspect you're in a spot of trouble right now right?" 

"O-of course not!"

"Oh my god Sky you are aren't you!" 

"I said I'm not. Why won't you believe me Shoichi?"

"haha. Dame-Tsuna-nii's in trouble again. Lambo-san hasn't been in trouble ALL day!" 

"Well good for you Lightening. But I'm **not** in trouble. Now if you don't mind, I need to get back to what I was doing"

"Yes Ahoshi. Stop wasting Juudaime's precious time"

"Wahhh Ahodera hit Lambo-san!"

"I'm sorry Sky but we need you back now. Carcassa and Nuevo are still having trouble with Civilian resistance forces and need you to go and sort out peace talks. Storm also needs you to finalise bringing the Ragno Family into the Mafia Treaty"

"And then guess what Dame-Tsuna"

"What Reborn?"

"You have a whole tree's worth of paperwork to sign before the end of the day. Leon and I will be there to encourage you"

"Meaning you'll shoot at me if I take a break right. However that's going to wait. **I'm busy**."

"Starting Space Time Translocation"

"Verde, turn it off now. Ahh, not you Verde, my Verde"

"Oh, you are talking to my 20 years younger alternate dimensional self? Interesting. How is he?"

"Turn the machine off and you might find out"

"Sky's tracking beacon located. Starting connection"

"Spanner! Why aren't any of you listening to me? I'm not done here yet"

"You know about the physical side effects of Time and Space Travel Vongola. You're limit for the week has been used up. We've got to bring you back now or else."

"But 5 more minutes, please"

"Connection made"

"I hate you guys"

"Please Juudaime! Don't say that. I beg for forgiveness for my wrongdoings. However your health comes first, so I'm afraid that I must insist. I shall bear all of your hate just to see you healthy and happy Juudaime" 

"Travel sequence starting. Jump to be made in 10"

"Spanner, no please. Ah damn it. Please Verde, Viper, Bermuda, look after him. I promise you that everything will be alright. All you have to do is keep on living like normal. Just forget abou-"

And there he was gone.

* * *

><p>The three Arcobaleno, Primo, and the Bovino all look between each other, wondering what on earth just happened. Eyes rest on Viper with a stern look.<p>

"If that was your idea of a prank it's not funny" says Verde.

Viper folds her arms and Verde can feel the glare (even scarier than her Varia glare) from under the hood. "Why would I play a prank on all of you? Just because I'm an illusionist doesn't mean it's my fault. And does that sound like something I would come up with? Sounds far more down your street"

"Just because of the Time and Space elements? How shallow of you" replies Verde "And how would I make that happen?"

Bermuda ignores the arguing pair in favour of crossing the room and picking Tsunayoshi back up again. As soon as Tsunayoshi is comfortably situated, the frown on his face goes and he returns to a more peaceful sleep. The Bovino Mafioso stay as far away from Bermuda as possible. His chains were floating around him and aimed at anyone who got too close, almost like feral guard dogs. He bids his goodbye to the Bovino Don before walking towards the stairs that would take them outside once more. Noticing that the arguing pair weren't following him, he ordered his chains to go and collect them. Flying across the room, the chains avoid all of the scientists' experiments and wrap around the nearest wrist of the other Arcobaleno. With a harsh tug, they stumble towards him, still arguing all the way. When they finally are by his side, Bermuda opens a Night Flame Portal in the doorway. He had done it all the way over here so he didn't disturb the experiments dotted around the room.

Waiting for Tsunayoshi to take a breath in his sleep, Bermuda turns to the others and orders "Breathe". As soon as Tsunayoshi takes a breath he walks through the portal, dragging the other two with him. Of course having to hold their breath shut the pair up for a moment, until they exited the vortex and found themselves back at their house.

* * *

><p><span>Back at the Bovino:<span>

"Um, Boss, when did the Boss of the Vindice arrive?" asks one of the more observant subordinates.

"I actually don't know. He suddenly materialised after the child returned when he was not supposed to" replies another. This was due to the shock of having two Tsunayoshi's in the room at once- Viper accidentally lost her grip on the illusion and forgot to put it back up.

"He was slightly scary though, don't you agree" asks the first.

Vittorio places his hand on his chin. "I don't think so. He didn't go after any of us and was even considerate of our experiments. He exuded that scary atmosphere because of his concern for the child. He's not as bad as I was expecting him to be."

Across the other side of the room, a certain baby notices something shining on the floor. He gasps, claps his hands and screams "LAMBO'S!" before reaching out for the item.

The woman holding him looks to where he is pointing and notices a sweet on the floor. Assuming it was one of the child's, she picks it up, removes the wrapper and gives it to the child.

The annoying Bovino finally had the sweet that started this whole fiasco.

* * *

><p>"I'll leave it up to you to explain what happened" says Bermuda before walking upstairs with the still sleeping Tsunayoshi. He places the boy on the bed and goes to stand back up. However, even in his sleep, Tsunayoshi won't let go of his cloak. Relenting to the unspoken wishes of the little boy (plus he didn't want to have to do all of the explaining either) he gets into the bed next to the sleeping boy and gently strokes his hair. Tsunayoshi smiles gently and snuggles closer to Bermuda. The Mafia Jailer takes off his top hat and places it on the night stand before placing an arm over Tsunayoshi and falling asleep too. It had been a long day after all.<p>

Viper couldn't be bothered to talk for ages either, so she did the next best thing. The Arcobaleno were currently staring at a movie like projector screen watching the day's events through her eyes. Since it was from her point of view, they also got a good look at the scene in the Alternate Tsuna's head.

"Ahh, my poor baby" cries Luce after the 'film' had ended.

"T-t-that's happened to Tsunayoshi already?" asks Skull, stunned just like the rest of them.

"Hn, they should sort their own problems out." Growls Lal.

"That's right. Obviously the Me in that dimension isn't doing a good enough job. Maybe I should go over there and smack some sense into them" threatens Reborn, his hands reflexively reaching for his gun.

"That explains a lot about Tsunayoshi though, doesn't it? Your Observation Book must be useless now Verde, kora" says Colonnello, a lot less cheerfully than usual.

"Actually it isn't. That version of Tsunayoshi seemed to have different relationships with us all. Whilst still being himself and similar to the Alternate Dimension one, having been raised up by us will affect Tsunayoshi's personality. Basically, Tsunayoshi will always be Tsunayoshi and not someone else. The differences in Dimensions make them two separate people with the same name and face."

"But what are we going to do now" asks Skull, looking at the others.

"Nothing of course. His past makes no difference to who he is and how we should treat him. It just explains a few things. There is no need for us to do anything differently. Plus, it seems that's how this Alternate Tsunayoshi wanted it anyway." Calmly replies Fon, sensible as usual.

"That's right. Tsunayoshi is still my darling baby no matter what." Declares Luce. "Now, I do believe some drinks are in order. I'm sure I still have some of that Russian Vodka the Giegue gave us"

* * *

><p><strong>Phew! Done! Luce I'll take a shot of that too please. <strong>

**I really like Vittorio's name. Whilst this name in itself means Victor, the Tori part actually means Bull (as in Taurus), suitable for the Boss of Bovino right?**

**God I had to come up with so many details for this chapter, hence why it took so long. Basically, Tsuna is Canon TYL!Tsuna- of course I can only base his experiences up to the Arcobaleno Curse Arc, but let's pretend that was all fixed and they moved on with their lives. And as we all can guess, Mafia Row is an AU, hence why I have nearly always called _Tsunayoshi_ Tsunayoshi instead of Tsuna. The things I had already got planned from previous chapters was that: An enemy was destroying the future of all dimensions and the mafia were too busy fighting each other to band together and help each other. Hence why Tsuna is so happy during Bermuda's chapter that Tsunayoshi is liked and loved by everyone else. All of Tsunayoshi's weird feelings are caused by Canon!Tsuna's memories. So an example would be with Byakuran. He was originally scared of Byakuran since Canon!Tsuna knows him first off as the tyrannical Ruler of the World Villain. However once Tsunayoshi saw him being nice to Bluebell, Canon!Tsuna's memories provided evidence of Byakuran after the incident where his ring is gone and he's a nicer person. Other examples would be feeling like he's argued with Lambo before, that playing baseball with Yamamoto is a bad idea, the box weapons in general (and yes I'm going somewhere with them), or feeling like the Carcassa are bad even before they bully Skull.**

**But apart from that, I had to make the rest up for this chapter. I was trying not to make it a repeat of the Future Arc, but I think it is rather close. Oh well, it doesn't really affect the story any time soon. We've got to wait for Tsunayoshi to grow up 20 years first before we come back to this anyway. I just wanted to get it out of the way and the 10 year bazooka was a good tool to use.**

**If you ever go back to re-read this fic, you'll notice all of Canon!Tsuna's influences. Plus, his HI is heightened and already activated hence why he comes out with some rather insightful stuff.**

**Take this chapter with a huge pinch of salt. It's not coming into play anytime soon. However if there are any glaring plot holes (and knowing me there most likely are) then tell me and I'll try to clear them up.  
><strong>

**Next chapter will be the Omake I promised and then we'll be moving on!  
><strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412  
><strong>

**First Published 02 July 2012  
><strong>


	35. Omake B

Omake B

**It finally clicked today that omakes are supposed to be short and cute or funny. What I had been writing is actually none of these things- possibly cute, possibly funny, but definitely not short. Hence why we now have this!**

**Oh, what's this, it seems that this chapter comes to you from the past!**

* * *

><p><span>How to train your Baby:<span>

_Ah, is that a baby I see? Well, well done to you! Now there are many different ways to train your baby, there is:_

Luce styled:

"Ah, Well done Tsunayoshi! That's it keep on coming."

*Thump*

"Ah that's fine Tsunayoshi. Let's just try again, ne?"

"Good boy! Who's a good boy? You are, yes you are! Tsunayoshi's a good boy!"

"Now just let go of the table, good boy! Yes and one more, and another and-"

*thump*

"Tsunayoshi dear, you can't keep hold of the table the whole time, you've got to let go sooner or later."

"Tsunayoshi, let go of the table"

"Tsunayoshi, let _go_ of the table"

"Tsunayoshi, let _go_ of the _table_"

"**Tsunayoshi**, **let go of the table**"

* * *

><p><span>Fon's way:<span>

"He'll get it eventually. Good things come to those who wait. Maybe he's just a late bloomer"

*others leave the room*

"Now raise your arms like this for balance"

"Here, hold onto my arm and then we'll try again"

*thump*

"Perseverance is key Tsunayoshi"

* * *

><p><span>Skull's attempt:<span>

"Haha! Tsunayoshi, this is the easiest thing in the world to do! It's so easy that I had to spice it up a bit to put it into my stunts… Although it's not really a stunt."

"Oh, but don't actually try to do it like that Tsunayoshi, you have to be trained like me, the great Skull from Hell, Bwahahaha!"

"Not that you aren't great too Tsunayoshi! And everyone needs to start from the basics."

"Wow, You're good at this aren't you Tsunayoshi? Go on, keep going. You're nearly there!"

*thump*

"Waah! Tsunayoshi are you alright? You're not hurt are you? Didn't break anything? Bruise anything? Err, twist your ankle? Oh god, please don't start crying. Tsunayoshi everything's going to be alright. Um, don't panic Skull, don't panic. Oh god he's going to cry. Waah, Luce, Luce! Tsunayoshi fell over and, and... It's not my fault pleasedon'tkillme!"

* * *

><p><span>Verde's Methodology:<span>

"This won't take 5 minutes. It's a natural and ingrained ability created through natural survival instincts. Simple"

"You just… just… That is indeed strange. One forgets how to since it becomes natural. However it is obvious that at some point one does _learn_ the skill, since it is clear that whilst I have it, you do not. How to explain…?"

"Basically the crural limb, this bit here, moves in a pendulum fashion forwards, pivoting at the acetabulofemoral joint, this bit here. The pedis makes contact with the ground before a backward pendulum movement is initiated. At this point in time, the alternate pedis starts the procedure for the forwards pendulum movement. And we stop there since we are Bipedal creatures. The double pendulum movement is repeated by both pedis until one wants to stop."

"Hmm, maybe it would be better to create some sort of robotic aid to help force the movement?"

*Tsunayoshi sits on Verde's lap, gurgling away happily, holding onto whatever tool Verde hands to him. Verde only barely remembers that a lit blow torch is not the best tool to hand to an infant who likes to wave things in the air.*

* * *

><p><span>Viper's Process:<span>

"You are going to have to pay me for this you know. And My time doesn't come cheap."

"Ah, I'll add it to your tab then"

"Hmm, a small illusion should do to get his body used to the movement."

"Tsunayoshi, look, you can still hold onto that 'bar'. Don't look at it strangely; it's not going to harm you."

"That's fine, keep on coming. Just keep on holding onto the 'bar'."

*thump*

"Look it's only me and you, so it doesn't matter how many times you fall down. I'm not going to laugh at you."

*thump*

"I know you've fallen down quite a few times now. But please, try once more, just for me?"

"Heh, Good boy. Thank you."

* * *

><p><span>Reborn's training:<span>

"Tsunayoshi, see this cookie?"

*a nod*

"Do you want this cookie?"

*another nod*

"Well go and get it then"

"Leon, take this and be a toy lorry. Run around or something. Just don't leave the room. Luce says I need to watch over the brat"

*thunk, thump*

"Look, crying is no way to handle yourself. It's not going to get you anywhere. Do you want that cookie?"

*a teary nod*

"Do you want that cookie with your dying will?"

*a less teary nod*

"Then go and get it. Don't let a simple chair get in your way. If you fall, stand back up again and don't stop until you have that cookie"

*Eventually, many falls later, Tsunayoshi gets the cookie*

"Good work"

* * *

><p><span>Colonnello's Version:<span>

"Ahahaha, Today will be the day you master it Tsunayoshi, kora! I'm sure of it. We've just gotta believe it"

*thump*

"Woah, nothin' to worry about. Let's just pick you up and we'll try again"

*thump*

"Haha, keep on trying little man."

*thump*

"You really like the floor don't cha, kora? Once more"

*thump*

"Now look, kora. Don't you want to show Lal what a big boy you are? So we're gonna try this one more time, and you're going to try really really hard to impress her, right."

*thump*

"*sigh* It's a good thing Lal's not watching you. You know what we need? A break. Let's try again tomorrow, kora"

* * *

><p><span>Lal's regime:<span>

"Do it!"

*thump*

"I did not tell you to fall over Tsunayoshi. Again."

*thump*

*cha-chink*

"Get up on your feet and start moving, you pathetic excuse for a child, before I blow your feet from under you!"

"That's better. Now we're going to go all around the house without you falling over once. If you can't do it, you aren't eating tonight"

_This was the first instance where they find out Tsunayoshi has perfect balance when in a dangerous situation_

* * *

><p><span>And finally the Bermuda Method<span> (I know he wasn't around then, but I haven't done a lot with him yet and I had this idea)

"Line Up!"

***Every** Vindice Guard lines up before him*

"Today we are going to teach Tsunayoshi the most basic fundamental"

"I want you to spread out around the Vendicare Mansion and extend your chains until they nearly touch each other. However, the gap between each chain should gradually extend each time. This way he can get used to the distance unaided slowly."

"Understood?"

"Tsunayoshi, we're going for a walk around the Mansion, we've got to find Natsu haven't we. Look, those chains will help you, so just use them to keep your balance with."

*thump*

"Tsunayoshi, where's Natsu? We've got to find him right?"

_We hope you fine this guide informative!_

* * *

><p><strong>I had this idea suddenly. Can you guess what they are teaching Tsunayoshi?<strong>

**…**

**…**

**…**

**…**

**It's how to walk. I'd imagine they all would have different ways of trying to teach Tsunayoshi how to walk.**

**With Verde, those are the scientific names for (in order) the Leg, the Hip joint and the foot. Bipedal simply means we walk on two feet not four.**

**I can imagine Skull getting worried every time Tsunayoshi falls over (aka *thump*). Of course Lal would go Spartan and pull a gun on Tsunayoshi (aka *cha-chink*). Colonnello was about to go Spartan on Tsunayoshi but stopped himself. I had this idea of Reborn tricking Tsunayoshi into doing it himself. In this case he's chasing after Leon, but then walks into a chair and starts to cry. My other idea was one of those Donkey Carrot things dangling the cookie in front of Tsunayoshi. He'd keep running forwards, yet the cookie would always be the same distance away from him, and he'd run into a wall or something. It sounds like something Reborn would pull. And the image of Bermuda using every Vindice officer just to teach Tsunayoshi to walk was quite funny in my head. I don't think their chains are supposed to be used like that, lol.**

**So the next chapter will finish off this arc, and is actually what I was writing before hand.**

**See you there!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 19 July 2012.**


	36. To One and All

Chapter 36

To One and All.

**Sorry for not updating for a while, I've hit so many proverbial walls with this chapter. I basically wrote it one Arcobaleno per session, I hate it when chapters are hard like this one was. And then there was work and hospital visits and such (not me, a family member) so it all just kinda piled up. **

**Make sure to read the bottom note for the competition I'm running!**

**Oh, and warnings of a bad second half, starting roughly at Viper's entrance since I just wanted to finish this damn chapter and move on. I'm sure you all understand that feeling. And we're going to forget Tsunayoshi's age for this chapter, it would be boring otherwise. **

**So Let the Show Begin!**

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi wakes up with the sun warmly shining on his face and the sound of the sea ringing in his ears.<p>

Realising that's not a natural sound to be waking up to, he opens his eyes and quickly has to shut them again to block out the sun. Using a hand to shield his eyes, he sits up and tries again. After blinking a few time, he realises his eyes are not deceiving him. He is sat on a beach in the sun.

"Oh, you're finally awake." says Luce. He turns to face her and realises that they are actually sat under an umbrella.

"Where are we?" Tsunayoshi asks, looking around them. There was grass behind him, sand dunes to the left and rocks to the right. There was a cliff in the distance with lots of trees on it. All around him was pure white sand, and the sea in front of him sparkled and flashed as the sun reflected off of it.

"This is the Arcobaleno's private artificial beach." Explains Luce. "Technically, this is 'the end of the garden'. The sand is brought in and sits on a special ledge that is under the water. Since the island moves all of the time, it's impossible to have a real beach, so we made one that we could take with us. The ledge extends into the sea and provides a calm pool for us to play in. Those red dots far in the distance are where the ledge ends and the real ocean starts."

"So basically it's a beach."

Luce laughs, "Yes Tsunayoshi, it's a beach."

Tsunayoshi looks around him and realises he can't see anyone else. "Where are all of the others?" he asks, tilting his head to the side.

Luce giggles, "They are all around the beach waiting for you to go and play with them. But you've got to find them first." Tsunayoshi nods and goes to stand up but Luce pushes him back down.

"Ahh~ You've got to play with me first Tsunayoshi!" Luce sings. "And first things first: Sunscreen." She reaches over and takes Tsunayoshi's sky blue shirt off of him before looking in her bag for the sunscreen.

Once she's found it, she starts to apply it to Tsunayoshi. However the little boy starts to giggle and squirm about since it's so cold. "Gyahaha, Luce! Heehee, Stop it! That t-hehe-tick-hehe- tickles~!"

Luce giggles herself and continues to attempt to apply the cream to the squirming boy. "Haha, stop moving and I'll get it done quicker," she smiles.

A small wrestling match ensues, whilst Luce tries to keep Tsunayoshi as still as possible and Tsunayoshi does his best to stop her from tickling him. He was sure that Luce was touching his ticklish spots on purpose. And sometimes she didn't even have the cold cream on her hands… She **was** tickling him on purpose!

So in revenge he grabs the bottle, places some on his hand and proceeds to paint Luce's face white. When she spins him around to do his back, Tsunayoshi starts painting her legs white instead. She was wearing a full length swimming suit and her big hat as usual with sandals.

With her legs fully 'painted' he goes to turn around and gloat over his win when something cold touches his nose. Going cross-eyed, he realises she'd dabbed him with the sun cream once again! "I'll let you do your face." Luce concedes. Tsunayoshi pouts before smiling mischievously. Leaning in close, he rubs his nose against her cheek. Luce blinks wide eyes as she watches Tsunayoshi scoop up his shirt and hat before running off. Slowly she goes to touch her now cold cheek to find it covered in sun cream. She smiles gently before laying back onto the blanket and picking up her latest romance novel. She just had to find out whether Luna would return to England or stay with Mark in Spain.

Tsunayoshi kept on running in the opposite direction, rubbing in the last of the cream and letting it dry before putting his shirt and hat back on. Before he knows it, Luce is out of sight. He looks around and realises he's entered the area filled with sand dunes. Hearing a sound coming closer and closer to him, he stays still. Eventually he recognises that sound and looks up expectantly. Soon the sound roars all around him and the sun is blocked out by a large shadow. With a thump and a spray of sand the thing lands and skids to a stop.

"Wahoo! It's been ages since I did a gig at a beach. Maybe I should do one there next?" says Skull, removing his helmet as he sits astride the dune buggy… Wait, when did they get one of those? The buggy was as purple as the rest of Skull's outfit, bright red Hell Flames sprayed onto the bonnet and skulls were decorating the wheel rims. The engine hums in agreement to Skull's comment, sounding ready to show off. Skull scoots backwards slightly, before smiling brightly at Tsunayoshi. It was one of the smiles that only ever appeared when they were alone together.

Giggling, Tsunayoshi scrambles up the dune between the pair before running over towards Skull. He didn't need to be asked, he knew exactly what Skull wanted. He runs over to Skull and the stuntman picks him up and deposits Tsunayoshi in front of him on the seat. As Skull returns his hands to the handle bars and leans over Tsunayoshi, the small child couldn't feel any safer. He had always felt the safest when pressed close to Skull for he knew that the stuntman would protect him with his body no matter the cost. Sure the others made him feel safe too, but just not as much. Reborn was more likely to shoot at him as was Lal and possibly even Colonnello. It was already proven that Verde was not exactly safe to be around either. But here, with Skull's arms surrounding him, his body heat warming him and his legs stopping him from slipping off, Tsunayoshi felt perfectly protected.

Skull squirms about a bit, moving to make sure that he had Tsunayoshi properly pinned in. "Hold on here so you don't fall off," advises Skull, pointing to a particular part of the chassis. Tsunayoshi goes and grabs that bit, holding on tight in anticipation for what was to come. Skull revs the engine, getting ready to take off. Tsunayoshi can feel the whole bike vibrate under him. "Ahh! Before I forget!" shouts Skull in a panic. He reaches into a compartment behind him, and takes out a pair of goggles before handing them to Tsunayoshi. "I don't want sand to get in your eyes." says Skull before putting his own forgotten helmet on.

With a squeal- from Tsunayoshi not the tyres- the pair go zooming off into the sand dunes. Swerving left and right, slaloming around the dunes, up and over, up and up and soon they are flying in the sky. Tsunayoshi feels weightless and decides he rather likes the feeling. His smile seems weightless too and ready to come right of his face. They land with a bump, but there's no time to contemplate bruised behinds since they are moving once again. He turns his face into the wind they are creating, adoring the feeling of the wind through his hair.

As they go over one very large jump, Tsunayoshi feels his body leave the seat. But he's not scared. In fact he loves the feeling of being air-born. Something tells him it's natural. His body tells him that flying is something he can do. Forgetting where he is, Tsunayoshi lets go of the hand hold he had and throws his hands out to the side and slightly behind him. Some reflex causes him to flex his hands out… of course nothing happens except his body moving backwards and slamming into Skull's. That snaps him out of whatever memory he is half remembering and he grabs Skull's trouser legs instead. He kind of feels sad when they land once more and wonders if there is a way for him to stay in the sky any longer.

Not that Skull can tell Tsunayoshi is feeling sad. He's just wondering how the boy can breathe through all of the glee filled giggling he's doing. And how he hasn't ended up with a mouthful of sand yet. Skull keeps on driving, slams on the breaks to drift and send sand flying everywhere before going full pelt in practically the opposite direction. He keeps on driving and they come to another jump. In mid-flight, Skull picks Tsunayoshi up (he'd noticed Tsunayoshi's habit of letting go during jumps. It had worried him at first and caused him to hold the boy down with his legs tighter. However he was confident in his ability to save Tsunayoshi.) and throws him directly upwards into a gap in the trees.

Tsunayoshi wonders what kind of trick they are doing now when he is caught by long delicate fingers and red clothed arms.

"o-oh-e-ek?" Tsunayoshi looks at the patch of fur to the left of his face. It's Lichi, sitting on Fon's wrist. "Good morning Tsunayoshi." smiles Fon, setting the boy down on firm footing.

"Wahh, Fon it's you." says Tsunayoshi, arms spread out to catch his balance. He wasn't expecting to be thrown in the air like that. Tsunayoshi looks around him to see a whole lot of green, brown and glints of silver. "F-Fon where are we?" since Tsunayoshi actually doesn't have a clue. He thought he had known all their house had to offer (traps and all) but he didn't even know about the beach let alone where they are now. Although he had never had reason to be climbing in the trees before now, so that might explain why he'd never found this place.

And 'This' consisted of wooden planks, ropes, nets, chains and wires, all making a path from where they are now along the stretch of beach towards the cliffs. Tsunayoshi looks downwards and is surprised to find he's not scared of heights- must go with the flying thing. But it is a long way down. A long way down.

Fon smiles at the boy before grabbing the sash around his waist and unwinding it. Tsunayoshi watches as Fon unwinds and unwinds and unwinds- he wonders how long this piece of material is and how long it took Fon to put it on. Eventually Fon comes to an end and Tsunayoshi can see that it's tied securely around his waist with a large and complicated looking knot.

"Now if you went anywhere else to do this, you wouldn't be allowed," explains Fon as he leans forwards and starts to tie the cloth around Tsunayoshi's waist. "Since you are so short," Tsunayoshi pouts and Fon ruffles his hair in a silent apology. It wasn't Tsunayoshi's fault that he was shorter than average. Luce said it made him even cuter, so there! "But since we are here, on Mafia Row, and in our own back garden, there's no problem." Fon leans back, finished with tying Tsunayoshi's sash. Lichi jumps the short distance between their heads to sit upon Tsunayoshi's. Tsunayoshi giggles at the extra weight and carefully strokes the tiny monkey. He looks up, or at least tries to without dislodging his burden, when he feels something else sit on his head. Fon hides a laugh behind the long sleeves of his robe. Tsunayoshi reaches up and feels something small, soft and fluffy attached to a hard band… he knew what these were! He pulls them down and is confused by their shape. Sure they were animal ears like Luce had made him wear, but of which animal? His answer comes in the small upside down face that fills his vision.

"Oohh~" he sighs, finally getting it.

"That's right Tsunayoshi, today we are going to be monkeys. Luce insisted that you wear them and Lichi agrees." And indeed the monkey did agree since she snatched the accessory out of Tsunayoshi's hand and forced them to sit back in their rightful position. "Now now Lichi" warns Fon. The monkey lowers her head and pats Tsunayoshi's in apology for her harsh treatment. "Are you ready to go Tsunayoshi?" asks Fon, pointing to the wooden path before them. "You'll be safe. I've checked the pathways myself and none of them are in danger of rotting or breaking under you. And even if you slip off, you won't fall far." Fon picks up the sash that links the pair and gives it a small tug.

"Sure!" sings Tsunayoshi, stepping in the direction Fon had pointed. If Fon said it was safe, then he highly suspected it was. Unlike certain people *cough**Reborn**cough* he knew he could trust Fon's word on this. Fon never tried to hurt him nor place him in dangerous situations intentionally. Reborn did.

Tsunayoshi steps onto the plank with fearlessness only very young children have. One that came with not understanding the consequences. With Lichi taking the lead and Fon right behind, Tsunayoshi walks along, moving from one tree to the next. Along one plank, over a wobbly rope bridge, down a wooden ladder, over a rope net, Tsunayoshi did all these things and more in his new capacity of a Monkey. He and Lichi had a great time making monkey noises as they went along, often punctuated by Tsunayoshi's laughs. He even manages to get Fon to join in too, and soon all three are ooh-ing and eek-ing up in the tree tops.

They eventually get to a bit where Lichi stops by a wire rope leading off to a tree nearby. Within a few moments Fon has caught up to then from climbing up another ladder. Reaching upwards, Fon pulls down some sort of contraption and attaches it to the wire. After checking a few things and giving it a very harsh tug, he deems it ready. He steps backwards, still holding onto the object, and presents it to Tsunayoshi. It was… some sort of plate like thing attached to a chain that was attached to the wire. Noting Tsunayoshi's confused face, Fon smiles and explains "Tsunayoshi you sit on it and ride it to the other side," and he points to where the wire stopped at the next tree. "Don't worry, the sash is long enough not to pull at us." _Ahh, so that's why it was so long!_

Fon holds the seat steady whilst Tsunayoshi climbs upon it. Lichi for once stays with her Master, sitting on his shoulder. When Fon asks if he's ready or not, Tsunayoshi nods an affirmative and pushes off from the tree they were on. Feeling the wind brush through his hair once more he giggles. Then he remembers some movies Luce had showed him. And the first was easy to copy.

"AHHHHHAHAHAHHHHHHHAHAHHH" Tsunayoshi shouts, doing his best Tarzan impression. Luce would be proud. However as the tree gets closer and closer, Tsunayoshi realises he doesn't know how to stop. It's then that he's reminded of the other movie he had watched with Luce.

'_George, George, George of the Jungle. Watch out for that' _**SLAM**_ '… tree'_

With scary accuracy, Tsunayoshi had impacted with the tree at the same time as the jingle dictated. However, unlike 'George', his face did not become one with the tree. Instead he had pulled his feet up, planted them on the tree and bent his knees. Sure his knees were now on level with his ears, and his nose was inches away from the tree, but those few inches were better than inches inside the tree. He sighs a sigh of relief and proceeds to clamber off the seat. He turns around to assure Fon that he is okay, but his voice stops in his throat and his jaw drops… all the way to the ground metres below them.

For Fon isn't following in the conventional manor. Oh No. Fon is tightrope walking down the zip wire with nothing stopping him from falling except Tsunayoshi- who would only be pulled down with him. Nor does Fon look worried or apprehensive with the large drop and the tiny wire he is standing on. Nope, he looks as serine as always. But Tsunayoshi can tell; he can see the look of intense concentration Fon has on, hidden to most under an empty well meaning smile and relaxed features. But it's there alright, Tsunayoshi can see it clearly after knowing Fon for all of his life. But Fon appears to do it so effortlessly that it takes Tsunayoshi's breath away.

Although we can't forget Lichi, who was performing the same feat her master was with the natural born ease of a primate. By using her hands and feet she was not only walking on the rope but swinging under it too.

Both reach Tsunayoshi and Fon flips off the rope to land in front of the shocked boy. Tsunayoshi doesn't think he'll ever find his jaw again with how spectacular that display of prowess was. He didn't know Fon was _That Good. _

Fon smiles at Tsunayoshi, the closest to boasting he ever got. From further ahead Lichi squeaks, demanding attention too. Tsunayoshi giggles and starts to follow the monkey down the rest of the path. Eventually they come to a large square platform that looks similar to the one at the start. Tsunayoshi can see no other way down than a pole in the corner. Walking over, Fon undoes the knot holding the sash onto the small boy. Lichi takes off the monkey ears before climbing into Fon's shoulder and waving goodbye. "We'll see you soon Tsunayoshi," Fon explains before gesturing with red sleeves towards the pole in the corner. Tsunayoshi looks over at it before looking back at Fon to say goodbye. But Fon isn't there; Tsunayoshi hadn't even heard him go.

So he has no other choice but to slide down the pole. Luckily it's a short trip leading to another platform barely two metres off the ground. Tsunayoshi looks around, wondering where he is supposed to go next, when the forest in front of him _moves. _Suddenly there are two piercing glimmers of blue staring right at him.

"Hn, catch me if you can, kora!" The forest challenges in Colonnello's voice before the forest moves once more, sliding down the wooden slide and into the bushes. Tsunayoshi blinks owlishly, getting over the shock of the forest moving like that before it clicks. It was Colonnello (surprisingly well done) in Camouflage, challenging him to a game of tag. Well, Tsunayoshi wasn't one to back down from a game! He loved games, they were so fun. Giggling wildly, he skids down the slide and follows the rustling of bushes Colonnello is making. It is clear that the older male is taking it slowly, otherwise the child would never catch up.

Tsunayoshi is having so much fun that he doesn't notice the sunlight catch on something perfectly straight- very few things in nature were perfectly straight. In fact he runs into it. Screaming in shock, he soon finds a rope net dropped on him from above.

He looks to his left where two blue flowers in a yellow flowered bush were staring back at him, laughter emanating from said bush. "Haahaahaa, I never said anything about not catching you back." He laughs before his eyes turn sharp. Tsunayoshi gulps. Oh dear, this was not good, Spartan Colonnello had arrived. Colonnello too it seemed came from the race of Spartans like Lal and Reborn did. Tsunayoshi had seen it before during times observing the COMSUBIN. Sure Colonnello liked to laugh and joke about, but when it came time to be serious, he was focused and sharp. Colonnello was a Spartan alright, he just knew how to turn it off.

"You should know better, kora. If you don't avoid these traps then you'll never catch me and we won't move on. I'm prepared to run around the forest all night if I have to, but are you?"

Tsunayoshi smiles. "We can go Star Gazing then!"

Colonnello sighs- Only Tsunayoshi would think about that- before smiling once more. "You'd still need to catch me for that, kora!" The two blue 'flowers' disappear.

So the first thing would be to get out of this net. Well it was a good thing he was small. Parts of the net had caught on bushes and were being held aloft in the air. If he wiggles just right, he'd be able to get out from under this net and continue to chase after Colonnello. He'd best not tell Lal about that mistake or she'd skin Colonnello alive- verbally at least… he hopes. Once he's out from under the net, he brushes the clumps of dirt from his knees before looking around him. He had no idea what direction Colonnello went in- there were no indictors as far as he could see. Last time he remembered Colonnello wasn't very good at camouflage. Just in case he looks up into the trees and spots a very familiar bird.

A very familiar bird hoping from one tree branch to another in a straight line.

Smiling to himself, he sets about chasing after Colonnello, keeping an eye out for any traps there may be. Now he knows to look for them, his intuition starts to spot them for him. He notices that every now and again, Colonnello stops- well Falco stops, so he assumes Colonnello does too- before changing direction. This frustrates the little boy, for how was he supposed to catch Colonnello if he kept on changing directions? After a few turns, Tsunayoshi sits down in a huff, arms crossed, a (cute) pout on his face. However what he didn't realise until it was too late was that he had sat in a patch of mud. He quickly stands back up, trying to wipe the mud off of himself, knowing Luce would be mad that he'd gotten dirty yet again. But instead of clearing it off, he just ends up spreading it around. And that's when the idea hits him. He'd finally recognised this for what it was: A Spartan Training session disguised as a game for his enjoyment. Giving a silent apology to Luce in his head, Tsunayoshi starts to cover himself in the mud, adding in leaves to his artistic taste.

When Colonnello stops once more and looks backwards he is proud to see that he can't find Tsunayoshi in the undergrowth. Falco had him pinpointed, but the damn bird wasn't giving anything away. "Keep it up, kora!" he shouts in encouragement, hoping for a reply to be able to locate the boy with, yet Tsunayoshi remains silent. Now that Tsunayoshi has gotten the point of his game, Colonnello starts off towards his final destination. Just as he is about to burst out into the sunlight and announce himself the winner, he hears a giggle and feels something clamp around his leg.

"Got you~" Tsunayoshi sings, smiling through a layer of mud, twigs, leaves and flowers.

"Well done, kora. How did you get me?" Colonnello asks, picking the boy up in his arms.

Tsunayoshi leans forwards in his arms to be able to see the opposite shoulder. "I just followed Falco. He stayed with you the whole time, so I knew where you were. Once I dressed up you spent longer looking for me and I caught up." Tsunayoshi strokes the bird's feathers with his cleanest fingers whilst Colonnello gives the bird a mock glare. Falco tilts his head before biting Colonnello on the nose in payment for the glare.

"So do you know what your prize is for catching me?" asks Colonnello as they walk towards the edge of the cliffs to enjoy the view.

Tsunayoshi tilts his head before breaking out into a grin. "No. What do I get?"

Colonnello's grin is far more devilish. "A Bath." Tsunayoshi wonders whether he's heard that right; a bath didn't sound like a good prize to him. "Oi, Lal, catch!"

Before Tsunayoshi realises what's going on, he's already been thrown over the edge of the cliff. He doesn't fall all that far, this cliff isn't very tall, only three or four metres, but he does fall straight into Lal's arms. The woman was obviously expecting him. Lal looks him over, looking for signs of falling for her worthless student's traps. To be honest she can't see any.

"So, how many traps?" she asks, wading out into the sea. Tsunayoshi blushes before admitting that he had only fallen for one of Colonnello's traps. Lal had thought so. "Next time make it Zero" she says before dunking him under the water and washing the dirt off of him. Once he's relatively clean and no longer wearing a mud-mask, she hands him a pair of goggles. "Here, you'll need these if you're to see anything." He puts them on before following her into the deeper water. When he can no longer touch the bottom, he jumps onto her back for a ride. She grumbles over it but doesn't make a move to dislodge him.

He had noticed that the water around them had gotten warmer and warmer- not that it was cold to start with.

Finally they get to a bit around the far side of the cliffs and there are lots and lots of different coloured blurs under the water. They really make Tsunayoshi curious.

"Hey, brat." Lal starts. Tsunayoshi grips on tighter to say he's listening, far too busy trying to guess what the different colours under the water are. "You only have to do one thing and one thing only. Hold your breath." Tsunayoshi leans forwards and tries his best to look at her face as he leans over her shoulder. Lal couldn't be serious? Holding his breath was most likely the easiest thing she had ever asked him to do for her.

"Okay then Lal. But, just what is this place?" asks Tsunayoshi inquisitively. It seemed to him like this place was special to Lal. She turns her face away from him, but he can still see the blush.

She pulls Tsunayoshi's legs tighter around her waist, making sure that he's in a position that won't hinder her own movements. "Breathe in brat". Tsunayoshi smiles, since not getting an answer to a personal question was just like Lal- at least it wasn't a slap- and follows her order. Lal places on her own red tinted goggles before stepping off of the sand bar they had been walking along. Both dive into the water and into a totally different world.

If he could, Tsunayoshi would gasp at this brand new place. It was just breathtakingly beautiful. Under the waves the water was a crystal blue, with light visible in bars falling to the yellow sand on the floor. It was so easy to forget the rest of the world here, to believe you were the one and only person on this whole planet. Lal slowly pulls him further down until the bright colours catch his eye once more. Just what were they? Rocks? Plants? Whatever they were they were pretty. The way they slowly moved, as if swaying in a non-existent breeze, it was almost mesmerizing. It was a good thing Lal was dragging him along on her back or else he'd just stay here and stare at this patch all day.

Lal leads them through a rock path until they reach a type of underwater clearing. Tsunayoshi lets go with one hand to touch the nearest piece of this rock/plant thing, but Lal quickly slaps his hand away before giving him a look out of the corner of her eye. Tsunayoshi doesn't understand why she doesn't want him to touch them, but he'll respect her wishes. She stops in the middle of this clearing and just kind of floats there. After a moment, she pulls on his arm so he lets go and they turn to be face to face.

It's at this point that Tsunayoshi realises that something is missing… Like Oxygen.

His eyes widen and a hand files to his mouth to make sure no more of the precious commodity escapes. Lal of course notices this and a staring match ensues. Tsunayoshi has no clue how to swim, nor how to get to the surface, and therefore has to rely on Lal to get him back there. So when he looks at her with a pleading yet desperate expression, his eyes widen even more when he sees her expression. Her Spartan Training look. For heaven's sake, why now of all times? So he wipes the puppy look off of his face, knowing even at this young age that it's not going to get him anywhere with her. Instead he looks at her determinedly. He trusted Lal, trusted her not to let him die here like this. Lal may be harsh but she always knew where the limit was, pushed him to touching distance of it before pulling him back to safety. She always pulled him back and he trusted her to do so this time too.

Lal of course knew exactly what she was doing and was keeping a trained eye on the tell-tale signs. Nor did she forget she was dealing with a child rather than an adult; whilst she may not yet be out of breath, he had a smaller lung capacity. If the boy had wanted to, he could have gotten away from her and gone to get air himself- it was a natural instinct to head for the surface for air, whether one could swim or not. Yet here he was, accepting her challenge and fighting all instincts just to please her. Finally, when she deems him to have held his breath as long as possible safely, she grabs him by the waist and kicks off the rock, shooting straight out of the water easily- they weren't all that deep down anyway.

Tsunayoshi spends a few minutes spluttering and coughing, trying to regain his breath. The first question he asks surprises Lal, but she berates herself since she should know better by now, this was Tsunayoshi after all. For instead of asking whether she was trying to kill him, or why she had forced him to the limit once more, he simply asks "Why can't I touch?"

"That coral down there is a living thing and very fragile, I don't want you destroying it. Plus, whilst in general the coral itself is not poisonous, some of the animals that live in it are and I don't want you to get harmed by them. In addition, some of the coral itself is sharp enough to give you scratches." Tsunayoshi nods, taking this in.

Lal hands him something small and black that he has exactly no clue what to do with. "It's a respirator" Still no response. "It'll allow you to breathe under water for longer than usual. Since you passed my test I'll let you wear one." Tsunayoshi smiles before listening to Lal's instructions and copying what she does with it. Once more she grabs him and they dive back into the blue.

Now that Tsunayoshi knows more about this 'coral', he suddenly sees the place in a whole new light. Beautiful, breath-taking yet dangerous. Sounded a lot like Lal herself really. He giggles to himself over that thought and wonders whether Colonnello would like it, or if indeed the man has ever said that himself.

Tsunayoshi decides he's going to learn how to swim just so he can come here and look at it whenever he wants to. There was something about lying at the bottom looking up at the bands of sunlight and a black shadow fall towards you that was peaceful yet astounding.

Wait… Black Shadow?

Tsunayoshi is picked up once more and dragged to the surface, but like a dolphin, he's forced into the air. However instead of landing back in the water, he lands in someone's arms once again.

"Lal certainly has a good understanding of trajectory and bio-mechanics," the mam mumbles to himself. Blinking the water out of his eyes, Tsuna finds himself in Verde's arms. Well, the voice and speech gave it away first. Even out here on the beach Verde hadn't taken his lab coat off, although the only other things he was wearing were shorts and flip flops. In fact this was the most casual he'd even seen the Scientist dress.

Verde carries his Observational Subject over towards a rocky outcrop just a few metres away, near the base of the cliff Colonnello had chucked Tsunayoshi from. When Tsunayoshi is placed on the floor, he wonders what Verde plans to do. I mean, there was nothing here, just rocks, rocks and more rocks. He knew that Verde wasn't the type to make him climb the cliff back up to Colonnello, so what was Verde planning?

"Science is split into a lot of categories, and you've seen a few of them already in my Lab. We've covered things from Electronics with Spanner's keyboard, to Robotics," Tsunayoshi's eyes flick to the wound covered by the lab coat, but Verde continues on speaking "as well as some Chemistry, Astrology, Bio-Mechanics and lots of other subjects. Today, I'm going to teach you something that can only be taught here." Tsunayoshi smiles brightly, this sounded better, learning was definitely something he expected Verde to do. Although what he could learn from Rocks he wasn't too sure.

Verde walks carefully over some rocks before sitting down somewhere relatively flat. Immediately, Tsunayoshi follows and takes his place on Verde's lap. Already far used to this position, Verde no longer noticed it and automatically worked around him. It had been like this ever since they had him as a baby after all. He had noted these feeling down in his Observation Book but had long stopped accounting each experience. "This type of environment can be very hard to replicate in a lab, so it's better to learn out here where nature does what it does best. Tsunayoshi, I want you to look into this pool of water and tell me what you see."

The small boy complies, leaning forwards to get a closer look at the water. Yet he sees nothing except their reflections and the rocks that make the pool up. But he knows that Verde is expecting him to see something, so he leans forwards even more. When Tsunayoshi leans so far forwards that he nearly slips off of Verde's lap, the scientist is quick to grab the boy around the waist. He didn't want Tsunayoshi to fall in nor to destroy the delicate eco-system they were observing.

Tsunayoshi finally leans back, wearing a childish pout. "Verde, I can't see anything in there except more rocks." He whines.

Verde was half expecting that answer. "You need to stay as still as possible and look for tiny movements." Tsunayoshi nods and goes back to staring intently at the pool, trying to look past his reflection and into the water instead. After a few moments there is a gasp and Tsunayoshi leans backwards rather quickly, almost knocking into Verde's chin. "Something moved!" he screams in glee, waving his arms about.

"Now you know that there are indeed living creatures in there, take another look" prompts Verde, knowing to be patient with him. Luckily enough, Tsunayoshi learned very quickly, enough for Verde to be tolerant.

As Tsunayoshi follows the order, he starts to gape and gasp, finally seeing what he didn't before. "Over there, and there, and there, and…and…and." Suddenly there was far too much that Tsunayoshi wanted to point out. Verde's lab coat was slowly being pulled down his right shoulder as the little boy kept on pulling on it to gain his attention and as an outlet for his surprise and excitement.

"Tsunayoshi calm yourself. Scientists don't get anywhere from acting like you are. We remain calm despite the situation, observing, analysing and remembering" He ignores that way the little boy mouths what he's just said… he didn't say it that often did he? "So let's start by naming the first one you see." Tsunayoshi nods and looks back down at the rock pool.

"Ah, that one, it's like a fish!" Tsunayoshi whispers excitedly- every time he had screamed everything in the pool had disappeared.

"Pomatoschistus Microps" Supplies Verde.

"Tomato-chi-stuff my-crops what?" asks Tsunayoshi, wondering whether Verde had lost the ability to speak.

Verde rolls his eyes. "Biology in general is done in Latin. All animals have a common name and a Latin one used in classification. Latin is used for both plants and animals. The animal you just identified is more commonly known as a Common Goby." Tsunayoshi nods, putting the words down as "Science talk" and moving on in a way only children can do.

"Uwah! Verde what's that? It's huge!" There was some sort of creature climbing over a rock towards them. He hadn't seen one of them before, so he had no clue what one was.

"That's a Cancer Pagurus, Tsunayoshi" supplies Verde, picking the animal up.

"Cancer, as in the shape in the stars?" asks Tsunayoshi. Verde and Colonnello had taken him star gazing a little while ago, teaching him the names of the shapes he could see. "So then, it's a crab!" It had taken him a few moments to relate the lines in the sky to the animal it was supposed to be. With Verde's nodded agreement, Tsunayoshi can finally link the animal to the word.

With that now sorted, Tsunayoshi looks back into the rock pool, where his eye is drawn to something that was bright blue and moving. It looked like a dog-pile of blue worms moving in a random direction. It was kind of creepy. Snuggling closer to Verde, Tsunayoshi points to the… thing, and shakily asks, "V-Verde? What is t-that?"

"That, Tsunayoshi, is an Anurida Maritima, basically an underwater insect. It's common name is a Springtail" Supplies Verde. The bright blue colouring was quite a rare sight in marine animals.

"Ann-u-ride a marmite? That bug is blue, it's not like Marmite at all. In fact, I hate them both, this blue bug and marmite." Tsunayoshi turns away from the offending blue marmite bug, burying his face into Verde's shoulder.

Verde doesn't know whether to laugh or to be offended with Tsunayoshi's version of Latin. Although the fact that he even considered laughing is shocking. It was not a feeling he got often- science was not funny after all. Sure he knew the benefits of laughing, it released 'happy' endorphins making the body feel better- the science behind _Laughter is the Best Medicine_- but it was not something he deemed important enough to take active note of.

"How about we look at the other end of the Rock Pool then Tsunayoshi?" suggests Verde. He feels Tsunayoshi nod against his shoulder, before the boy comes out of his sulking. "See that one? The one that looks like the sand but is too pure a cream colour?" Tsunayoshi leans down, noticing the cream against the grey of the rocks, and nods. "Well, that one is a Ribbon Worm, also known as Lineus Longissimus."

Tsunayoshi snorts and bursts out into laughter, gripping onto Verde's lab coat lapels for stability. "You finally got one right!" The child manages to say through breathless laughter. Verde straightens his back and raises his chin; He'd gotten them all right, thank you very much! Tsunayoshi, ever perceptive to the moods of the people he's living with, stops laughing enough to say. "It's kind of backwards, though. Instead of Line Long, shouldn't it be Long Line, since it's just a long line of worm, right?"

Tsunayoshi looks up in fear when Verde chokes. Oh God, what was wrong with him? Was his shoulder bleeding? Was he about to collapse? Verde looked to be in pain, head bowed forwards, face scrunched up. His shoulders start shaking before the scientist throws his head back and makes some sort of deep dry gasping sound. When Verde finally opens his eyes and sees Tsunayoshi's innocent yet worried face, Verde can't help but burst out laughing. Tsunayoshi's take on Latin, the language of his life, was just too funny to contain anymore. Verde knew he'd have to write this down later, but for now, here, where no one could see him, he'd laugh out all of the breath in his lungs (since it was not physically possible to laugh one's heart out) and let the endorphins flood his system.

He snaps out of it when Tsunayoshi pats his face before checking his pulse. That's right, this wasn't like him. Something must be wrong. He picks the boy up and starts to walk away from the rock pool. He'd remembered what animals and plants he had seen and could put them in his report when he got back later today; his memory was trained for that, even if it seemed that he was concentrating on Tsunayoshi. He was concentrating so much on these feelings Tsunayoshi had brought about in him, that when he is asked a question by the boy, he just answers on auto-pilot.

"Those would be: Chamaeleo Calyptratus, Sciurus Vulgaris, Pseudastur Albicollis, Enteroctopus Dofleini, Mico Chrysoleuca, Agalychnis Callidryas and mine would be Paleosuchus Palpebrosus." Tsunayoshi just giggles, taking guesses at who was who. Only two of them were obvious. (That would be: Leon, Cosmo, Falco, Ookado, Lichi, Fantasma and of course Keiman)

Tsunayoshi stops giggling when he is put down. "Hey Tsunayoshi, look out there, those are Stenella Longirostris, more commonly known as Spinner Dolphins" Tsunayoshi looks out towards the sea to spot the leaping and spinning dolphins.

He looks back to smile at Verde to find the scientist nowhere near. Instead there is a huge Sandcastle. It's bigger than their house and that's saying something. He walks towards the castle, mouth agape in awe. As he gets to the front doors, two people materialise out of the sand, being made of sand themselves. Despite their solid yellow colour, it was clear to see their faces and uniforms, making them look like a queen's guards. They open the doors of the castle and bow to him. Tsunayoshi doesn't know where to look as he walks past the two and inside the castle. Inside there are lots of sand people in maid and butler outfits, lining the sand carpet down to where a figure was standing. All of these sand figures were also bowing to him. He warily walks down the path, not knowing what to expect nor what to do. When he reaches the end, it's to find Viper waiting for him. Despite the heat, she was still wearing her full length cloak but were those… sunglasses he could see? And maybe even sandals?

"Don't worry, Luce paid in advance." Viper explains, spreading her arms to include the castle encasing them. "Welcome to the Sand Castle Tsunayoshi, where, for today only, you're the King." Whilst Prince suited Tsunayoshi better than King, she had bad connotations with the word Prince. Already _Shishishi_~ was ringing in her ears just from the thought. "Anything you want to do, it can happen here. Luce paid for the full service. Just say the word."

"Really then let's go exploring!"

She was glad that Tsunayoshi had said that, for she had an idea.

A grinding sound draws Tsunayoshi's attention to his left where a doorway is descending into the floor. _Guess we're going that way then_, he thinks and skips towards the door, Viper following behind. As he enters the corridor made of sand, his eyes widen at the flaming torches that light the path. Although it's rather dark where the light doesn't reach. But with Viper's reassuring presence at his back he draws up the courage to continue onwards. When, after a few minutes of walking nothing happens, Tsunayoshi calms down, and deciding this is getting boring, runs forwards to reach their final destination quicker.

Well, that was his mistake.

As he rounds a corner, he doesn't expect to be met by a mummy, bandaged hands reaching out for him. He lets out a shriek before aiming the gun at the mummy and shooting… wait, when did that gun get there? And that wasn't a bullet, that was a… a…?

"Laser beam" Viper provides walking through the molecules of disintegrated mummy. _A what?_ Viper aims this weird white gun that doesn't really look like a gun towards him and fires it. A beam of random red pixels shoots past his cheek, and it's not even hot!, before an exploding noise sounds behind him. Looking over his shoulder he sees a black worm like animal (his mind tells him it's called an Ouroboros, how it knew that, Tsunayoshi didn't know) with a hole through its chest before it disintegrates into dust motes. A dinging noise draws his eyes back to Viper where suddenly there's a counter above her head.

He recognised that counter! They were playing a game!

"Simple kid, aim and shoot. You can try to beat me but I'm the best at this one." Tsunayoshi reckons that Viper has a smug smile on. And she did; Reborn didn't care for shooting at fake objects and Colonnello had a habit of shooting an actual gun which of course didn't register the points. Skull was a scardy cat and spent more time running and screaming than shooting. But Viper, well she loved scary stuff like this and wasn't affected. It helped that these games were always provided by her illusions anyway so of course it wasn't going to scare her.

Now he knew it was a game of laser tag, Tsunayoshi lost most of his fear. They traipse through the sand corridors, encountering many enemies ranging from simple bats to Mummies and the odd Ouroboros, which honestly scared him greatly. Viper just went through her 'occult catalogue', finding interesting things to throw Tsunayoshi's way. He apparently had a fear of dogs for some reason, the werewolves and lycans (and to his great embarrassment, a Chihuahua. Yeah, Viper didn't believe it either) making him scream and hide behind her until she got rid of them- a great way to equalise the points though.

And equalising points was important, she had a bet going that she could get more points than Tsunayoshi with some of the other Arcobaleno. Lal, Colonnello and Reborn bet otherwise. And she was not going to lose money! Luce had never specified what illusion to create for Tsunayoshi, so why not have some fun (the haunted house shooting games in the arcade had always been her favourite) and win money at the same time as pleasing possibly the only person who was important to her?

Exactly, there wasn't any reason not to.

There was only one thing she didn't like about this, and that was that this illusion was actually highly dangerous for her. For this game to be played fairly, she had to not cheat and know what was coming up. This meant allowing herself to fall for her own illusion. Basically, part of her was concentrating on the illusion whilst the other part was oblivious of it. And falling for your own illusion meant certain death in an illusionist battle. These games were treats for the others since it was such a danger to herself, and the time she was allowed to fall for her own illusion was strictly limited. She had to be careful not to get used to the feeling of falling for her own illusions less she become addicted to it and fall into insanity. Which was a problem any illusionist faced, especially one in a hard time- the temptation to create an illusionary world that was perfect for yourself was high during times like that. She looks down at her watch to check how much time she had left before having to let the illusion drop. Although she knew that the others were keeping an eye on her too.

But to be honest, none of that even mattered at the moment, the screams of pleasure and the laughter from Tsunayoshi were far more important. And indeed Tsunayoshi was enjoying himself when dogs weren't involved.

"Wahh! Viper watch out!" Viper snaps to as she feels air beneath her feat. Oh yeah that's right, the later levels had traps. Had they reached this high already? She had based this illusion around an Indiana Jones film she had watched recently, changing the temple setting to one of an Egyptian tomb, since it fitted the Sand Castle theme better. Wait, didn't that mean that the-

A hand grabs hers and jerks her forwards. "Viper! We're gonna get squished!" Tsunayoshi shouts, leading the way down the torch lit corridor.

-the rather cliché Boulder of Doom chase scene was near. She had always wanted to see the protagonist get squished by it, but she hoped that her demonic wish wasn't translated into this illusion. She would never hear the end of it if she was killed by her own illusion. Mukuro especially would wander the Paths until he found her just to gloat in her face.

"Viper! My gun isn't working!" worries Tsunayoshi, shooting backwards blindly (it's not like he could miss the boulder) as he runs.

"Well it's not a pre-programmed enemy, there's no target to shoot at and 'kill' it. You've got to out run it." Viper explains calmly. She didn't have a clue why she put this bit in when she herself hates running. Oh that's right, to watch Skull get squished by it. Strangely enough this part of the game was one of the few times she had ever seen Verde run. Viper was sure that Luce asked for these games just to get the scientist to exercise.

Tsunayoshi though was having the time of his life, adrenaline pumping. He could feel a giggle rise in his throat. He tries to stifle it, to concentrate on jogging for his life, but finds he can't. As he lets it out, Viper looks down weirdly at him. _They've turned him into an adrenaline junkie!,_ she thinks, turning a corner and lengthening her stride.

The boulder caries on its war path, smashing into and through the wall. Now safe, Tsunayoshi stops and turns to face her. "Ahh, Viper, you're no fun! You weren't even running!" he comments. Well of course she wasn't running. This game had been adjusted to fit Tsunayoshi and people as young as him could only handle so many enemies, so many scary experiences, and only run so fast on those little legs of theirs. And even then he had been jogging and not outright running. She wasn't sure if Tsunayoshi would trip or not (like the clutz he is) so she had allowed time to pick him up and continue running (err, speed walking?) before they got run over.

**Beep, Beep.**

"Hmm, what's that Viper?" Asks Tsunayoshi, catching his breath at the same time.

"It's time to… fight the Boss" she lies. The tomb around them starts to shake and sand falls from the ceiling. They run down the corridor and into the light at the end. Suddenly blinded, Tsunayoshi puts a hand over his eyes. Behind him he hears a crash and a boom of the Sand Castle falling down. After blinking out the sun spots from his eyes, he turns around, expecting to see the ruins of the castle. Instead, he finds a normal 30cm tall sandcastle and 2 toy soldiers from a dolls house in the sand behind him. No sign of Viper either.

"Bwahahaha!" a creepy laugh comes from infront of him and Tsunayoshi whirls around to face it.

"Oh, Hi Bermuda!" smiles Tsunayoshi, sending the man a wave. What was it with these two, Viper and Bermuda, wearing cloaks in this weather?

Bermuda looks around himself, at his hands and then his feat, and then at his chains, before looking back up at Tsunayoshi. Two of Bermuda's chains come flying at him and stop right infront of his face. "What do you see?" Bermuda asks, waving the pointed tips of the chains about.

"Umm, your chains, what else?" asks Tsunayoshi, tilting his head to the side.

"Damn, they were supposed to be snakes." He hears Bermuda mutter. Tsunayoshi then thinks he hears something about failure illusionists and not paying, before those chains gently wrap around Tsunayoshi and lift him up. After being carefully lifted, the chains bring Tsunayoshi into Bermuda's arms.

"Bermuda, have you seen the Boss anywhere?" asks Tsunayoshi, before noticing that his laser gun was gone. _Ahh, was the game over already?_

Bermuda doesn't even stutter when creating the answer. "He was so scared of you that he ran away". Tsunayoshi seems happy with this answer, and starts an animated one sided discussion about all of the monsters he defeated whilst in the King's tomb. Bermuda is slightly down-heartened about not being able to play the villain, but apparently Viper must have had run out of time. Not that it mattered, it was time for dinner anyway.

"Ne, Bermuda" asks Tsunayoshi, snuggling against the feathers that made up Bermuda's cloak. "Do you like living with us?"

Bermuda is slightly shocked by the sudden question. Thinking back, he'd been living with them for around a month now. It was strange, it was hectic and sometimes downright dangerous. But then again, what was life without a little danger? Sure it was weird being in a place where people weren't scared of him, where the rooms were bright and people wore something other than cloaks and bandages, but all in all… he … liked it here.

"Yes, Tsunayoshi. I do"

That short answer that didn't really say anything, yet said everything, seemed to be enough for the little boy in his arms. Bermuda was glad that Tsunayoshi had invaded his house, dragged him through the rain and into the house of the Arcobaleno. Life was fun now, it was about more than revenge. And never would he wish to change it and return to where he was before.

"The others have been wanting to see you, you know." he comments as they walk back down the beach. The rest of the members living in the Vendicare were interested in who had taken their Boss away from them. Bermuda was known for being stubborn, to a child like extent, so it was strange for him to change his mind and leave with the little brown haired boy. In fact their Boss never let anyone walk all over him, so it was amazing that he followed the whims of the brat in the first place.

"I'd like to meet them too one day. I expect they're like you and only scary on the outside. Don't worry, I'll be really nice to them, they're like your Family after all!" Tsunayoshi assures Bermuda. Bermuda thought that the idea was sweet of Tsunayoshi and wondered over the innocence of youth. Bermuda realised that he's want to protect this child from his mortal enemy. If this Tsunayoshi grew up to be anything like the Parallel Tsuna he had witnessed earlier, then Bermuda suspected he'd come under the eye of his enemy. Bermuda would do whatever it took to make sure that never happened. He'd hate for Tsunayoshi to become cursed and die a pointless death.

Tsunayoshi didn't mind Bermuda's sudden silence, guessing that the Vindice Boss was thinking about something important. No, he was simply content to snuggle up and relax after the hectic day he had had so far. As a growling sound fills the air, Tsunayoshi looks up into a bandaged face before giggling. "I think I'm hungry."

He suspects that Bermuda raises an eyebrow, yet facial expressions are generally hidden under the white mask. "Easily sorted," Bermuda replies. With a rattle, two of Bermuda's chains go flying into the sea. Tsunayoshi watches with wide eyes, since he doesn't have a clue what Bermuda is planning. Nor does Bermuda care to explain as they continue to walk down the beach.

Eventually they get to where everyone else is. Tsunayoshi shouts out to them and waves. Attention is brought back to Bermuda however, when chains rattle once more. "Hey, Army Brains." Says Bermuda with a harsh order like tone. Tsunayoshi giggles when Colonnello turns around at that, silently admitting that he is an army freak. Well the COMSUBIN was kind of like the army.

"Oh Yeah, Bermuda!" shouts Colonnello, bringing out some sort of bazooka-like huge gun. Colonnello aims the gun in front of him and away from everyone else. With a flick of chains, whatever was on them goes flying. Colonnello follows the items' trajectory before pressing the trigger. A tremendous jet of flame ensues, engulfing whatever Bermuda had thrown at Colonnello. Out the other side of the Flame jet comes some very well done fish.

"Tsunayoshi, dinner is served" smugly smiles Bermuda, setting the child down in the sand next to Luce. Luce grabs one of the fish and sets about cleaning and de-boning it before handing the rest to Tsunayoshi.

"Careful, it'll be hot" she warns, watching the small boy carefully. Tsunayoshi takes a bite before humming and eating the rest of the fish.

The rest of the meal is cooked by Colonnello, who is determined to barbeque everything, whilst forgoing the barbeque entirely (who needs a barbeque when you have a flame thrower?). He is amazingly good at cooking with a Flame thrower.

It's a little while later, whilst everyone is chatting over the remains of dinner, that Tsunayoshi crawls over to Reborn. Reborn looks at him out of the corner of his eye before lifting a finger to his lips and pointing to his right. Tsunayoshi follows the pointing finger to find Skull asleep in the sand.

What's this? A caring gesture from Reborn?

Wrong.

With a sly smirk that literally spells doom, Reborn slowly crawls over before sitting as close to Skull as possible. Tsunayoshi follows along to see what Reborn has in mind- it's usually something fun when he's not the target. Reborn grabs a handful of sand and spills it over Skull's legs before grabbing some more and repeating the process. Leon climbs down from the fedora before turning into a toy digger and moving the sand closer to the sleeping stunt man. Tsunayoshi looks up and catches Reborn's wickedly gleaming eye. Stifling his own giggle, Tsunayoshi joins in, spreading sand over the unsuspecting Skull. From over the other side, the others keep an eye, gently laughing at the pair's antics, but deciding to leave them to it. It wasn't everyday Reborn played with Tsunayoshi after all, and their antics were not the most dangerous thing Skull had been through. Reborn and Tsunayoshi keep on sharing glances at each other, but as Reborn remains as serious as ever, Tsunayoshi's attempts at stifling his giggles get worse and worse. Luckily Skull sleeps like a rock, so he couldn't hear the tell-tale signs of a misbehaving child. Tsunayoshi takes great care in making sure that he doesn't spill any of the sand into Skull's face, Reborn… not so much. Tsunayoshi spends a bit of time wiping the sand from Skull's face from Reborn's careless treatment.

The pair step back and admire their work before Reborn ruffles Tsunayoshi's hair. "Good job brat."

Around half an hour later, a shout can be heard even at the Arcobaleno's house. Tsunayoshi is told to ignore some of Skull's colourful language. Fon sighs and decided he had best go rescue the stuntman from his sand cover. Apparently being buried in sand whilst wearing leather was not the best or most comfortable experience. Indeed Skull would be complaining about sand in his clothes for the next couple weeks.

Later on that night, Tsunayoshi lays next to Reborn, both of whom had been sent to bed early by Luce 'to atone for their crime'. Rolling over and pressing against the hitman, Tsunayoshi thinks back over the awesome, fun and action-packed day he's had today. And he wonders what other adventures he'll have with the members of the Arcobaleno House, and what else was awaiting him out there on Mafia Row…

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><p><strong>And here are our sentences for this Arc. There are two sentences for this Arc, one that's random (since Byakuran's chapter title just wouldn't leave my head) and one that is a lot deeper like the first one. The second sentence all started due to my plans for Gokudera's chapter. I really felt that 'You are not alone' suited him. <strong>

**Under the short lived sky, a world hopping maniac rides on his horse as time moves on through the generations, and assassins keep on killing with experimental Powers and their Reputation preceding them. (lol, I told you random)**

**You are not alone under this starry sky, looking from the outside, or from the inside, you'll find that friends from all over the world have different circumstances too. But together, we are strong; so spend your time playing and train hard before putting on your work clothes and fulfilling your orders against the wrong Family so the truth can be revealed to one and all. **

**You'll have to see if you can tell which Family is which from these sentences. And you'd better not peek! That's 24 chapters including this one, which makes for 23 people I've introduced. And it's far more than that considering there was more than one person per house- I think it was about 2 or 3 per house for normal Famiglia's, and then 7 people for more main Families. Just goes to show how HUGE the KHR cast is.**

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><p><strong>Oh! Oh! COMPETITION TIME!<strong>

**Here's your chance to affect my story (lol, not that you guys don't anyway. All of those suggestions will be coming into play soon). **

**As we all know Luce is a Mafia Boss, well Ex- to be exact, however that doesn't mean she is defenceless. But guns are kind of boring. Reborn has a handgun, Lal and Colonnello have sniper rifles covered. So I want to give Luce something different. I was inspired by MyHobbyIsToRunFromReality and their fic Rainbow High School (you should read it sometime) and they give Luce a Mallet. I can imagine her doing whack a mole with it. Now I've gone and asked their permission to also give Luce a cool, weird and downright wacky weapon and they said I could. **

**So then guys what should she have?**

**Please leave a review stating what weapon she should have. If possible I'd quite like to know why you've chosen that (even if it's just "I can picture her using that" it's totally cool, some things just fit) and maybe even a small sentence or two of her using it. How about I go first…**

_"Luce smiles one of those fake sweet smiles of hers as she presses the 12" Chef's Knife against the side of Reborn's face. Reborn decides to let the Smartie cookie go. He'd much rather preserve his Curly Sideburns- they attracted lots of ladies. Lots of ladies who were more than willing to buy a Smartie cookie for him." _

**Why a Chef's Knife? It's something you'd find in the kitchen and with Luce now being a house wife she'd be used to using it to cook with. Plus she may have had knife training from her Mafia Days. **

**Of course that's a tame example. But be as weird as you like with her weapon :P**

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><p><strong>I have so much more to say, but I've said enough. <strong>

**I'll see you soon (I promise this time!)**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 15 September 2012**

(Ps. (spoiler alert) Who else was devastated that 'Adult' Bermuda was NOT drop dead gorgeous?! Although with his attitude, it doesn't surprise me that he's a child/teen. Well, MY one is handsome, okay, we'll pretend lol. )


	37. Mafia Row Map

Chapter 37

Mafia Row Map

**I don't know whether I can do this or not (If I can't then let me know and I'll remove this chapter), but since I don't have a deviant art account, I can't give you an actual map, so I'll do one here. Please bear in mind that my map was originally an Excel document, so it made much more sense there. **

_The Mafia Row Committee would like to remind you that this information is strictly under the Omerta. Any leaks to civilians will be dealt with severely by either the Gatekeepers, the Vindice or the Arcobaleno. _

_You have been warned._

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><p>Today is a rather quiet day in the Arcobaleno house. No arguments, no fights, no loud explosions or illusion induced screams. Nothing. Was Luce angry at them? No. Was Reborn in a bad mood? No. Had Verde tested a new gas to temporarily render the voice chords useless? No. Had Viper been out with the Varia for over a week and hibernating the day away? No.<p>

The reason the Arcobaleno were being quieter than mice?

Tsunayoshi.

The little guy had been busy since after breakfast. Natsu was sat next to him on the kitchen table, keeping guard over the little boy. Crayons were strewn about the place, paper balled up and placed in a neat pile on the floor and humming could be heard. With his tongue sticking out slightly, a sign of immense concentration, Tsunayoshi was busy doing… something. The Arcobaleno had never seen Tsunayoshi concentrate this much on something before now, so they left him to it. Of course trips to the kitchen for an 'innocent' glass of water, or a coffee, or a snack had increased exponentially, but Tsunayoshi was oblivious to it all, concentrating as hard as he was.

The Arcobaleno weren't worried. The world could be ending and they wouldn't be worried, but they were interested in what had taken the boy's attention. A few hours later, not long before lunch, an almighty shout of "I'm finished!" comes from Tsunayoshi. The Arcobaleno, attentive to any sound the boy had made today, immediately rush to the kitchen to see what the boy had finished doing. Tsunayoshi himself grabs the piece of paper before him as well as Natsu before running out of the kitchen, down the hallway, into the basement and Verde's domain.

Hearing the elephant worthy stampede down the stairs, Verde carefully puts down the pipette he was holding, turns the Bunsen Burner off and turns in his spinning chair to see what all the fuss was about. Barely did he notice the way his feet had pushed him backwards, away from the counter and the chemical experiment. He was too busy catching the child that had thrown itself into his lap. Tsunayoshi proceeds to wave a piece of colourful paper in his face and start some incoherent babbling.

"Tsunayoshi, calm." Verde asserts in his usual cold voice. Tsunayoshi immediately stops, blinks at him before turning red and ducking his head, knowing he's gotten excited again. But, but, he just had to show this to Verde! Tsunayoshi wiggles around in Verde's lap, now facing the same way the scientist was so Verde could look over his shoulder at the piece of paper Tsunayoshi had been labouring on.

"The Map! I finished the map!" claims Tsunayoshi proudly, pulling on the edges of the paper, causing it to make a snapping sound and consequently drawing attention to it. The other Arcobaleno, currently hiding on the stairs, look at each other, silently questioning why Tsunayoshi had spent all morning drawing a map.

Verde could over look the fact that the map was not to scale, or even had a scale, and that pretty pictures decorated the spaces where the houses were supposed to be. Examples included what Verde assumed to be a stick of dynamite over the Gokudera Household, a rough version of Shimon's compass, and the mask of the Geigue. He over looked it all and just focused on the important things, like whether he had gotten the houses in the correct places or not. Amazingly Tsunayoshi had.

The map went something roughly like this:

_Mafia Row_

**Trainee's quarters/ COMSUBIN Training grounds**

**|Yamamoto Sushi|**

**|Haru's Tailors|**

**|Ryohei's Gym|**

**Vongola 9th. Varia. Vcubed. Shimon. ====================== Fuuta. CEDEF. Tomaso. Triads. E****straneo.**

**Arcobaleno===================================================================================-Vendicare**

**Giglio Nero. Guesso. Chiavarone. Bovino.===================== Gokudera. Cervello. Nuevo. Geigue. Carcassa.**

**|Hibari Gakekeepers|**

**|Docks|**

Considering he'd only shown Tsunayoshi what a map was yesterday, since he had wanted to know where Reborn had gone on assignment, Verde was impressed with how well the boy had copied one. Smiling at the child, he gives him a pat on the head before prompting the boy to get off his lap- that chemical was fizzing and he didn't want Tsunayoshi to get burnt by it. "Why not go show Luce? I'm sure she'd love to put it on the fridge." Tsunayoshi smiles brightly, proud with the silent praise from Verde before jumping off and running over to Luce.

Upstairs the Arcobaleno crowd around to look over the map.

"An excellent imitation Tsunayoshi." Compliments Bermuda, tipping his hat up to get a better look at it.

"Not bad, brat" comments Lal, a hand to her chin in thought. "Pictures are often better for army maps since they are looked at quickly. The mind recognises the picture quicker than the words. This could be useful on assignments."

"Wow, Lal approves, kora! You know it's good then Tsunayoshi." shouts Colonnello, picking the boy up in one arm. Tsunayoshi giggles in glee before holding onto Colonnello's shoulder for support.

"I could never make something this good." cries Skull, currently in possession of the map. Yes, Skull was envious of the drawing skills of a child. That was the reason he had a promoter and his own marketing team instead of doing it all himself.

"That was a very productive use of your time Tsunayoshi." Comments Fon before taking a sip of his tea. Time was precious and using it productively was a key skill in life.

"Hn. Not bad." Was all Reborn had to say, but Tsunayoshi knew it meant just as much as all the other comments he had gotten so far.

"Verde's right!" sings Luce, gently snatching the piece out of Skull's hands "This needs to take pride of place on the fridge." She rummages around in the drawers looking for a magnet. With a squeak, Cosmo comes over and hands her two. Thanking her pet, Luce walks over to the fridge and pins the map in place.

When Viper comes down from her sleep at lunch time, her face is practically pushed into the picture in some of the other's excitement over it.

Tsunayoshi goes to bed that night feeling proud of himself.

* * *

><p>It was the middle of the night and all was dark. In the Arcobaleno's study there was an ominous robotic noise. A bright green band of light travelled across the room, illuminating a face hidden by a black hood. A few moments later, an evil witch's cackle accompanied the noise of a computer's mouse clicking. The residence didn't notice it, more than used to her cackles in the middle of the night. The Sin of Greed goes to bed a happy witch, knowing that her plan to sell copies of this artwork could make her millions.<p>

In the morning, Luce wonders whether she truly had left the scanner on last night.

* * *

><p><strong>As you can see Mafia Row is kind of cross shaped, with Mafia Row being the horizontal road and Mafia Row Central being the |vertical axis|. The road would run straight down hence the dashes. Some of these placements are on purpose, like Estraneo and Carcassa being right next to the Vendicare to remind them to be good little Mafioso. Similarly the Varia are in between the first and ninth generation of Vongola since who else would want to live near them? Shimon are next to the first generation because they are linked through Giotto and Cozart. Byakuran's house is right next to Yuni's just because of the Canon really. And then you have the more commoninfluential houses near the Arcobaleno on one side of the street and everyone else on the other side. To be honest this is because of how I ordered everything when writing the chapters. All the popular people are down that end, lol. **

**So it's a nice tiny cosy island filled with the Mafia's worst and greatest. **

**Warning: This map is subject to change depending on whether I add in any more Families or important people. However I don't think that's going to change a lot. But it's just to give you a basic idea of how I see the place. **

**Hope you like it. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 18 September 2012**


	38. What a Mother Knows

Chapter 38

What a Mother Knows.

_A little thing to note: As we all know my writing doesn't suit young children, a 4 year old Tsunayoshi seems almost triple that age. I know it, you know it. So instead of giving him ages, I'll just let you decide. Tsunayoshi has grown up a little since the last Arc (a minimum of 6 months), however he is still rather young since he doesn't know much of the world yet and is still unbelievably innocent and trusting in the Arcobaleno, always wanting to see the good side in everyone._

_This arc was originally planned to be before we met the rest of Mafia Row. But since everyone wanted to meet the others so badly, I changed things around. This does change the feel of Reborn and Viper's chapters since Tsunayoshi is no longer a baby. But it does mean that Bermuda gets a chapter in this arc. I do have the next 3 arcs planned out too XD_

* * *

><p>"See you all later!" smiles Tsunayoshi, standing next to the doorway. Breakfast had been served and eaten, and sadly nearly everyone had jobs to go to. It wasn't unusual for most of them to be out at the same time. They were exceptional at their jobs after all, and as such were in high demand.<p>

On their way out, Lal received a hi-five (reluctant on her part), Colonnello a fist bump, Fon a bow in the Chinese manner, Viper a hug and Skull a secret handshake. Tsunayoshi handed over a pen to Verde, placing it in the scientist's lab coat pocket. From Bermuda, Tsunayoshi received a hug via the chains Bermuda wore. And finally, as the last to leave, Reborn patted Tsunayoshi on the head.

So that left him all alone in the house with Luce. They spent a lot of time alone together like this, often with one or two of the others if they had no requisitions that day. He and Luce did everything from watching movies to being taught to read (Verde had started the process last month and Tsunayoshi was learning fast), to simply cuddling up and watching whatever was on the TV.

Now that everyone has gone out for the day, Tsunayoshi climbs up the stairs and into the bathroom. After washing his face and cleaning his teeth he goes into his little used room to find some clothes for today. After placing on some trousers, a shirt and a bunny hoodie, he grabs Natsu and proceeds back down stairs. It's rather quiet without everyone else here. And to be honest, Tsunayoshi doesn't like it. He much prefers the rambunctious atmosphere created when the others was around. Strangely enough the sounds of bullets, crashing vases and shouted arguments was music to his ears. Anything other than those sounds meant something was wrong. This silence, whilst usually perceived as nice, really wasn't. So he goes in search for Luce's company.

But she's not in the kitchen, nor in the living room, nor in the games room. She's not in Verde's lab, in the armoury (they needed one with the amount of ammunition the Arcobaleno used. Plus there were a few bits for Skull in here, some weapons Fon used and a repair kit for Bermuda's chains.), nor in the Garden. She's not asleep in her room either. Holding Natsu tighter, he decides to go around the house once more just incase he missed her.

He finally hears her when he passes into the corridor near the living room.

"Cosmo, pass me the calculator."

He follows the sound of her voice into a room that he'd forgotten to check. The Study. Lots of the Arcobaleno used this room at times, all having some form of paperwork to do. Reborn, Lal and Colonnello, and Fon all had reports to write for their Bosses, Skull used it to keep correspondence for his stage shows. Quite possibly the scariest use of this room was when Viper used it. She'd black out the windows, light (LED, solar charged) candles (they were far cheaper than buying normal candles each time, or buying batteries every few uses) and do some sort of occult research in it. When she wasn't doing that then she was consulting her information network. She had a whole cabinet filled with blackmail material. This cabinet was covered in locks that even Reborn couldn't pick, and the Arcobaleno had to pay a fee if they ever wanted information from that cabinet. For Reborn especially, Viper was a good source of information. It was just annoying that she charged so much for it. Bermuda didn't use the study much since his office was down the other end of the street at the Vendicare. Verde didn't use it much either since he had his whole lab to do paperwork in- however Tsunayoshi's reading lessons were held in here, how he'd forgotten the room, he didn't know.

The whole room was colour coordinated to allow the Arcobaleno to find their own files easier. Books, folders, shelves and filing cabinets were all painted to match a single Arcobaleno or else they'd never be able to separate the paperwork of 9 different people.

Luce looks up as the door opens. She smiles as Natsu's head appears around the door. Tsunayoshi was being cautious since he was often kicked out of this room. The Arcobaleno always seemed to get short tempered and snappy in this room. Apparently handling letters and money was a stressful thing, but Tsunayoshi couldn't say he knew so from experience; he didn't get any letters.

"Natsu, darling, could you hand me that orange book next to your foot?" asks Luce. Tsunayoshi makes Natsu nod before gingerly stepping into the room and grabbing the book that she had requested. He brings it over to the table where she has gone back to looking at a different book. Placing it on the table, Tsunayoshi gives a small "Gao~" for Natsu to let her know he's done what she asked. "Thank you Natsu." Smiles Luce before taking the book and flicking through its pages. When she finds the page she's looking for, she places it down on the desk.

Tsunayoshi blinks at it and climbs onto a chair to get a better look at it. It was a very confusing page filled with blue and red lines and more numbers than he'd even seen before. Needless to say, he got none of it. Luce laughs quietly at the confusion on his face. "This is an account book Tsunayoshi. It helps me to keep track of how much money we have. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to buy food and clothes." Yes, the Arcobaleno were rich, but it never hurt to keep track of everything. Ammunition for guns wasn't cheap after all. Nor was all the chemicals Verde wanted.

Accounting and Finance was a job done by both Viper and herself since Viper was the one obsessed with money to a worrying degree. In general, Luce kept accounts for the small things, the everyday things, that the house needed, such as food and clothes, as well as the utility bills. Viper handled everything else.

"C-can I help?" Tsunayoshi asks quietly, since he was sure the answer was going to be no. People never wanted help when they were in this room, saying that Tsunayoshi would just get in the way.

"How well do you know numbers Tsunayoshi?" Luce asks, a happy smile on her face.

Tsunayoshi brightens up considerably. "Tsunayoshi knows lots of numbers, I can count to 20!" Luce knew that, and boy had it been an experience getting him to learn those numbers. Each of the Arcobaleno had tried, with varying degrees of success.

She hands the boy the calculator Cosmo had given to her earlier and faces it in the boy's direction. "Can you show me the numbers on here?"

Tsunayoshi looks a little hesitant but still tries anyway. When he gets them all correct, he beams brightly at her, very proud of himself. "If Mamma says some numbers can you press them into this for me?" Tsunayoshi nods vigorously before sitting down in the chair. He places Natsu on his lap and reaches around the toy lion to be able to grab the calculator.

Luce knew it was going to take a whole lot longer doing it this way, however she didn't want to leave Tsunayoshi all by himself. Not only would be get bored but he'd get lonely too and she wouldn't want that.

10 minutes, two bouts of tears, three lollipops and a huge glass of gin and tonic later, Luce gets a phone call.

"_Heya Kora! I need to enter another date into the notice board, could you do it before I forget? Lal's not coming with me on this one"_

Luce holds the phone to her shoulder before grabbing a baby blue PostIt note and a pen. She writes something down before saying goodbye to Colonnello and closing her phone. She passes the blue sticky note over the table to Tsunayoshi. "Can you stick this up there for me?" she asks since Tsunayoshi's chair was next to this wall.

The notice board kept track of all the missions and official outings and meeting the Arcobaleno had. Luce insisted on having it, wanting to know where everyone was at any time. The latest PostIt note contained details of a mission Colonnello would be taking in two weeks' time.

Luce can't help but giggle when she sees what Tsunayoshi is doing. He'd taken the PostIt note and started to doodle an image of Colonnello on it. Once he had finished, he used the blutack to place it on the board before taking down a bright red one. On this one he started to draw Fon on it. Tsunayoshi continued to do this, one PostIt note at a time, placing the notes back in their places before taking the next one down. Luce used this time to take back the calculator and finish totalling the food bills for last month. As lovely as Tsunayoshi's help was, she'd like to get it done. Paperwork was long and boring as it was, she didn't need Tsunayoshi making it last twice as long.

With that done, and Tsunayoshi finished personalising the notice board, She decided a change of scene was in order. With all of the Arcobaleno out of the house, now was the perfect time to clean it. Luce didn't mind cleaning the house, the peace and repetitious nature could be quite relaxing. She gets the hoover out and plugs it in.

"Can I help too?" Tsunayoshi asks once more. Luce couldn't say no to the adorableness that was Tsunayoshi and Natsu, but she knew that she couldn't let him do the hovering, he wouldn't be able to push the hoover. She had images of things being broken if she asked Tsunayoshi to do the dusting. He was too young to wash up, too clumsy to dry the breakfast plates up…

She leads Tsunayoshi into the kitchen and places him in a chair at the table. She places a very heavy vase infront of the boy- one she knew he wouldn't be able to lift, therefore it wasn't going to end up in pieces on the kitchen floor- and a bouquet of flowers. Luce loved having flowers around the house, they smelt nice and gave the place some colour. "I want you to place these flowers into that vase and make them look pretty." She says enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Natsu and I can do that really good, can't we Natsu!" shouts the small child, punching a fist into the air.

"Do that really well Tsunayoshi. It's well, not good." Corrects Luce.

"Yeah Natsu, it's well not good" Tsunayoshi tells the lion as if it was the one who had spoken and not him. Luce hides a smile before leaving Tsunayoshi to his task. She could keep an eye on him through the door connecting the kitchen and the living room.

"Well then Natsu, what should we start with?" Tsunayoshi asks the lion.

"Hmm, you're right, the big bright orange ones should go in the middle!"

"What next? These yellow ones? You're right Natsu, they'd look good."

"Hmm, this petal isn't very yellow, we should take it off."

"And this one… and this one… that one too… euh that one's brown… this one's not very yellow either."

"Natsu, look what you've done, there are no petals left! We need a new yellow flower now."

Luce can't hear any of this over the noise of the hoover, but they are used to Tsunayoshi talking to Natsu. She was sure it was just a phase and he'd stop eventually.

Once she's finished hovering, she walks into the kitchen to check on the boy. She isn't surprised to find flower petals in his hair, leaves in Natsu's mane and a mixture of the two all over the table. Sighing, she grabs the nozzle of the hoover, turns it on and walks towards the boy.

Tsunayoshi can clearly see her intentions as his eyes go wide. With a giggle, he grabs Natsu and runs around the table in the opposite direction of Luce. Putting on a huge grin, Luce steps backwards and stands near the door towards escape and dirty freedom. Tsunayoshi stops when he sees this, his plans thwarted. As she steps forwards, still in between him and the door, Tsunayoshi takes a step backwards. Luce keeps on taking steps forwards until her hips are stopped by the table.

Tsunayoshi, cowering behind the table, his back against the kitchen counters smiles, assuming that Luce can't get to him here. He sticks his tongue out at Luce, before placing Natsu infront of his face and growling for the lion.

When he lowers Natsu down, it's to find the hoover directly in his face.

Jumping into the air at the scare, Tsunayoshi lets out a loud "HEEII!"

What Tsunayoshi had forgotten was the reach of the Hoover. He never used it so didn't realise that it could grow longer and shorter. Luce was leaning over the table, her elbows in the middle to steady herself. With accuracy, she places the hoover near Tsunayoshi's hair and sucks up all of the petals that had gotten stuck there before repeating the process for Natsu. She was sure that whoever's bed Tsunayoshi decided to sleep in would not appreciate leaves and petals joining them.

The day continued in a similar fashion, with Tsunayoshi making a mess of the household chores. Although, Luce thinks afterwards, at least it wasn't as boring as it usually was. After hovering up the mess in the kitchen, they move onto the gardening. Tsunayoshi was very good at pulling up plants... The wrong ones admittedly, meaning Luce had to undo the damage he caused. Tsunayoshi however quickly learnt his lesson and went back to pat and apologise to every plant he had uprooted. Luce found this adorable and squished the life out of the poor boy through a hug. Tsunayoshi spent the next few minutes just simply sitting in the garden, recovering from his ordeal.

Luce could hug the life out of anything.

* * *

><p>When the Arcobaleno arrive back at home that night, it's to find a sparkling house and a very dirty Luce and Tsunayoshi.<p>

"I think it's time for a bath, kora." sings Colonnello as he walks up to Tsunayoshi.

The little boy giggles and screams as he's picked up and chucked over Colonnello's shoulder. The screams get quieter as they go up the stairs towards the bathroom.

"LUCE!" Everyone jumps at the sound of Vipers shout. Viper didn't shout all that often.

Said psychic walks, no stomps, into the living room, an accounting book held in her shaking hands.

"What is this blasphemy?" she demands. "Who wrote that 2+2= fish?"

Skull bursts into laughter at the joke.

"No matter what base you are using, whether it be binary or not, it is not mathematically possible for 2 plus 2 to equal a fish." says Verde, looking down at Skull and pushing his glasses up.

"Guys it's a joke, I bet Tsunayoshi wrote it." Skull wipes the tears. He walks over and takes a look at the book. "Yeah, he did. He can only write numbers not letters yet, right."

Viper closes the book, squishing Skull's finger in the process. "Well then mister. You can pay for the corrective fluid to cover that up then since you seem to find it so funny." She turns around and strides out of the room.

Skull is hot on her trail. "Whoa, calm down Viper! You can't expect me to pay for that! Viper… Viper…Vip-"

Fon comes in with a mug of steaming tea. "Worry Not Luce. Patience is a wonderful virtue and one that will be rewarded in the future. It is admirable of you to put his happiness over your productiveness."

"Hn, once I'm done with him, he'll do all of the chores for you Luce, don't worry." comments Lal, cracking her knuckles.

"Lal don't do that. He's only young after all. And we had some fun, so it's not that bad." Calms Luce.

"Viper, you can't do that. Only a demon would!" protests Skull as the pair come back into view, still in the middle of their argument.

"I'm glad you see things my way; finance is no laughing matter. Money makes the world go round not fish!" protests Viper, turning on Skull as she stops in front of the sofa.

"It was just a joke!" Pleads Skull.

"Viper, **hunny,"** Both freeze and slowly turn towards Luce. That tone wasn't good. Skull thinks he can see Viper sweating under her hood. Luce never called Viper hunny or sweetie unless she was in serious trouble. It was like being called by your full name. "Would you like to see what I made for Tsunayoshi today? It's just so cute and adorable, I'm sure that you would love it."

Viper slowly backs away, eyes glancing towards the stairs, wondering whether she can get there and up them in time. She didn't want to be punished, not for this. She couldn't take another meeting with…

The Bag.

Viper takes her chance and runs for it. Luce follows behind her, sewing bag in her hand, a bright pink bow in the other. The others sweatdrop and back away from the two warring woman, Viper shouting profanities and curses. Luce seems unfazed.

"But Viper, I'm sure that Pink would liven up your outfit!"

At dinner, Viper has forgotten all instances of maths and marine animals meeting on a crisp blank page, instead too busy wishing that she could disappear. The others were politely hiding laughs behind their hands over the bright pink bows ans sliver glitter decorating Viper's hood. However, secretly they are all remembering their own meeting with the Demonic Bag. Almost as one they shiver.

No one wanted another meeting with The Bag.

* * *

><p>So one of the winners to my competition is <strong>Yoshikuni Itoe<strong>, who suggested that Luce threatens them all with The Bag, filled with things she makes Tsuna's cosplays out of. I think it's really fun and fits with the themes of Mafia Row at the moment.

However the following people also suggested something I rather like which I think suits Luce's personality- or at least the personality I've given to her- and that's to be able to pull things out of thin air, or use the items around her as weapons. Examples include a Pen, a frying pan, the kitchen knives, and needles from her sewing kit. Some of the weirder examples include Flower Ninja stars and a staff. So thanks to **uchiha-sakura193, DMCP, VenomRouge, tora-chan83, AikoYukari, Bleach-ed-Na-tsu, Kildosad, whitemistress, Leonard L. Church**. (Sorry if I've missed anyone off).

For those who suggested about Luce's Shaman side being explored more, I may do if we get to some more violent stuff once Tsunayoshi's grown up a little more.

**Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions *bows***

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 21 September 2012**

_Ps. New thing I'm trying out. I'm gonna put my plan for this chapter down at the bottom. Since I plan sentences all at once, I usually know what I want to do for each chapter. However sometimes what I plan is totally different from what I end up writing. It'll be surprising how different they turn out to be sometimes. I swear that I won't change them to make it look like I've followed my plan when I didn't. _

_What a Mother Knows: a day with Luce, sorting house accounts, calandars, planning their lives ect._


	39. A Scientist Theorizes

Chapter 39:

A Scientist Theorizes.

**For a little while Mafia Row is going to be updated on Thursdays and Sundays, since these are my only days off. Since I'm now in University, I have chapters in books to read before lectures and pre-seminar work to do, taking up my evenings. I'll update more if I can, but I thought this would be a suitable compromise. **

**Note: Please remember that this is fictional science. And whilst I try to be as accurate as possible, I'm going more for what physical reactions occur rather than if the reaction is scientifically correct or not. So no Science Flames please.**

* * *

><p><em><span>Observational Log:<span>_

Day 0:

Subject's first observation, amazingly, was making Reborn smile. This is an extremely rare, almost unseen phenomenon in _The World's Greatest Hitman (proven through use of statistics, see file: TFBLAR). _Subject seems to have an effect on all members of the Arcobaleno house, even the more emotionally detached, or emotionally reclusive ones. Reactions include a sense of motherhood from Viper (never seen before, cuddling money does not count), confidence in Skull away from his place of work and a sense of seriousness in Colonnello away from the battle ground.

Luce has ordered that all of the Arcobaleno look after the Subject. Subject is firmly classified under the _**DO NOT EXPERIMENT ON**_ category. The most I can do is observe the interactions these different types of people have with the baby, note how parenting affects these different personality types and how parenting as a group of 8 is easier than a group of 1 or 2, or harder if that is the case.

Note to self: research parenting techniques and journals.

Day 1:

Subject decided to sleep with the most dangerous person in the house, Reborn, last night. During the Night of the first day, Subject insisted to sleep with myself. Keiman seems to have an attachment to Subject already. At present an odd attachment had started to form between myself and the Subject. Reasons are unknown, but most likely caused by hormonal imbalances naturally brought around when infants are in the vicinity.

Day 1470-1485:

By this point in time it is confirmed that Subject is Sawada Tsunayoshi, related to Sawada Iemitsu of the CEDEF. Tests were conducted by myself under full lab conditions, results are as accurate as possible. Meeting with the CEDEF Leader resulted in Sawada disowning the child and Arcobaleno taking full custody. When a physical movement was made towards Subject, all Arcobaleno act in a maternal way, immediately defending what we see as ours, even when dealing with the biological father. The idea that Subject is ours is not a new one and is one that had occurred many times during the Observational log- reference to Days 268, 445, 836, 1354 and 1400. I do not even find myself worrying over this feeling anymore.

Arcobaleno have taken Subject out of the house for the first time since he learnt to walk. During this 15 day period Arcobaleno have taken the Subject to see 15 different houses on Mafia Row. Reactions from residents are all favourable, if slightly out of character for dangerous Mafioso. All have acted positively towards the Subject and have seemed affected by the Subject's innocent and entirely positive view of others and the world around him. All residents seemed to have formed a protective nature over the Subject, some more than others. Residents to note include the Assassination Squad Varia taking on a self-claimed brotherly role, Vongola Ninth Generation taking on a Grandparents Role. Primo has taken a role of a mentor for reasons unknown at the moment. This is a relief since results prove that Arcobaleno are not the only people being affected by the Subject.

Continued sightings of (named after a visitation to the Vongola Nono) Subject's Hyper Intuition, although other symptoms have occurred that do not correspond to the Vongola's Hyper Intuition. Examples include Subject showing emotional intelligence far above his age. In addition, Subject changes views and feelings towards strangers very quickly, often after only one specific sentence.

Day 1486:

Subject manages to escape Arcobaleno house. I am called back from a Conference early to help deal with the problem. All other Arcobaleno answer the summons too, in keeping with other signs of attachment towards the Subject. Personal feelings include fear for Subject, worry and panic, all unusual emotions for myself. Subject is found in the company of a Vindice Officer and seems to have close attachment to said Officer. Arcobaleno defend the Subject in a highly territorial way often seen in animals. Subject determined to keep Officer- now identified as Bermuda, Current Leader of the Vindice- and manages to convince all members of the Arcobaleno to accept Bermuda. Again, this shows an emotional maturity far above his age. However, based upon findings presented in Observational logs 1 through 18, Subject is usually correct about what he does, and all decisions terminate with positive conclusions. As such, I am the first to trust in Subject's judgement and re-enter the house. This prompts other Arcobaleno to also accept the Subject's choices in what is best described as a _pack member_.

Bermuda now lives with the Arcobaleno.

Note to self: **Tighten security. **

Day 1500:

Visits to rest of Mafia Row resume. Subject has taken well to the new addition of Bermuda in the pack.

Day 1507:

Subject's abnormalities are now explainable through a scientific explanation of Memory Transfer, taken place by a version of the Subject from both a Future Timeline and an Alternate Dimension. Whilst I was sceptical at first, a Mind Delve by Psychic Viper proves that Future Subject believes what he is saying is true. Scientific research and experimentation is not currently advanced enough to confirm the procedure is true especially if the power source Flames are involved. There is currently little to no research on these Flames.

Note to self: Research Flames in more depth, Consult Vongola and Mare.

Revelations of Subject's past has not changed feelings or attachments towards the Subject. I personally, now find him even more interesting. However NO EXPERIMENTS rule still stands.

Day 1508:

Subject's views on Latin and Biology could be considered offensive, however instead it made me laugh. Subject has taken an interest in Marine Biology caused by visit to a coral reef and a Rock Pool. Subjects desire to learn still amazes me even now. This seems to be a factor that many Arcobaleno like and few have taken advantage of, myself included. Other Arcobaleno have less pure, more dishonest and Mafia like intentions for Subject. However Subject still sees no wrong in what people around him do, determined to see the good side of everyone. Possibly due to a rather unfounded like of Knights and what they stand for socially and morally. This is worrying since as such Subject has no self-preservation instinct. All Arcobaleno are worried about this and has induced a far more ferocious and animalistic desire to protect the Subject. Hopes that meeting other Residents of the Mafia to correct this issue were not realised.

* * *

><p>…<em>Worries over Subjects persistence to talk to inanimate objects is still worrying. According to journals and research by topic experts this is still a viable trait in one his age, but if it persists, a specialist may need to be consulted. Viper will not like that. Subject's learning is persisting smoothly, and Subject's ability to be self-taught is outstanding. Most current observation includes that Subject found out that mirroring the number 2 in the correct way creates what can only be describes artistically as a 'doodle' of a fish.<em>

_In addition, it is observed that Subject is the only one of the Arcobaleno Household that is not scared of the frankly Demonic Ba-_

"Verde, I'm bored!"

Ahh yes Boredom. The state of having nothing stimulatingly interesting at hand to keep the brain engaged. Highly common in children due to their fast absorption of information and rate of learning. Also common in intelligent teens and adults for same reasons. The Bane of Existence.

And for Verde, worse than Death itself.

And for Tsunayoshi? Well… just… _boring_.

So Verde puts down his pen, closes the Observational book, places it back into his pocket and turns to face the boy. Tsunayoshi is sitting on a chair next to him, kicking against a desk to make it spin, whilst he crosses his arms and pouts in a childish manor. Standing up, Verde places a hand on the chair to stop it spinning, making an absent comment about how spinning affects the liquid of the inner ear, sense of balance and ultimately makes one sick, before continuing on his way to the other side of the Lab.

"Well suit up then, we're dealing with chemicals today." Tsunayoshi's face lights up as he leaps off the chair and 'runs' over to where Verde is. Kneeling down Verde helps the boy into the protective clothing he had made especially for Tsunayoshi- thankfully free of Luce's fashion sense. Luce understood the need for a sterile environment inside a lab, and Tsunayoshi dropping synthetic fur and glitter everywhere was not a sterile environment. Despite the size of her hat, Luce was not an air head.

After zipping up the front of the suit and putting his own on and his lab coat over that (Tsunayoshi delighted in the fact they were a matching pair the first time Verde had worn one and now Verde was not allowed in anything else if Tsunayoshi had to wear one. To avoid temper tantrums, tears, or the strange unexplainable power of 'puppy dog eyes', Verde agreed. It never hurt to be extra protected after all.), they walk into the laboratory dedicated to chemical experimentation.

Verde had recently produced a new compound, created by combining two unstable atoms into a stable one through a process only he could explain to you (assuming you had more letters and abbreviations after your name, starting with Bachelor and ending with Doctor, than you had letters in your name). He was currently at the stage of testing it's reactivity towards other compounds and elements.

Tsunayoshi didn't care that he was the witness to the cusp of a new scientific discovery that could possibly change the world as we know it (you never knew with Verde). Nope, he was far more interested in the pretty colours and bubbles that he was about to witness.

Walking as fast as was safe in Verde's lab, since running was a big no-no, Tsunayoshi reaches his seat, climbs the step ladder and jumps up onto the chair. Verde goes and stands around the other side of the table, a piece of super thick, super strong yet super clear glass between them to protect Tsunayoshi from any violent chemical reactions. Verde places on gloves, a paper mask over his mouth and goggles over his eyes just to be safe. With Tsunayoshi copying almost everything he did in his lab, Verde started to be very precautious with his own safety, teaching Tsunayoshi as a result. It was good to have someone who learned through watching, they didn't disrupt his train of thought that way.

The first test Verde set up was to place a small sample in a dish with distilled water to see if any reactions occurred. There were no immediate reactions, for example no fizzing due to the release of a gas, so Verde placed it to the side, under the watchful gaze of a camera. Verde expected this reaction, very few things reacted to water, nor did the original components react either. The next test was to place another sample in a dish filled with a PH1 Hydrochloric Acid. The sample fizzed, before the colour of the acid changed.

"Ohh, look at it bubble!" giggles Tsunayoshi.

"Pass me the litmus paper Tsunayoshi" asks Verde holding a hand out.

Tsunayoshi looks around before opening a drawer by his leg. "Um what colour is that one?" he asks. He only knew the paper by their colours. He had no clue what 'litmus' paper was.

Verde keeps his eye on the sample that was merrily fizzing away. "The blue one the size of a plaster." Tsunayoshi may be the only person in the world that Verde would tolerate simple questions from. After all it was not the boy's fault that he was too young to remember such quantities of scientific knowledge. His brain simply was not capable of understanding that much yet. If anyone other than Tsunayoshi had asked that, he would have thrown the 'incompetent fool' out of the lab.

Tsunayoshi finds the pretty blue piece of paper and has great fun in ripping a few sheets off. He then places them on the table and slides them around to Verde's side; He wasn't allowed to walk over that side. Tsunayoshi watches with wide eyes as the piece of litmus paper changes colour from blue to purple and to a very red pink colour. "It neutralises acids, a useful tool." Verde mumbles to himself, writing some observations down on a notebook.

Verde placed that to the side and readied another sample. For this one he lit the Bunsen Burner- which Tsunayoshi had never touched again after a certain incident as a baby, nor was he allowed anywhere near the blowtorches- and changed the Flame to its highest setting.

Holding the sample in a pair of tongs, Tsunayoshi watches as the flame changes colour.

"Verde, can we have pretty fire around the house too?" Tsunayoshi asks, entranced by the flickering of the green Flame.

"Whilst chemically possible, it is not really safe to have different colour fire around the house. For a start some of the chemicals needed to change the colour of the fire are very dangerous. You wouldn't want Skull to hurt himself on them would you?" Point to Verde. Tsunayoshi took extra care to make sure Skull didn't get harmed or bullied by the other Arcobaleno. Saying something may harm Skull was usually a good deterrent.

"But since Verde's the best, he could make them safe right?" Ahh ego stroking, point to Tsunayoshi.

"Then it would be really expensive, and Viper wouldn't like that." The possibility that he could displease Viper… Point to Verde.

"But… but… but!" use of puppy dog eyes… plus 5 points for Tsunayoshi.

"A cheaper and safer option would be to use LED lighting and to create a program to change the colour of the lights either by remote or on a repeating pattern." Sighs Verde. Towel thrown in… Winner Tsunayoshi!

During the previous discussion, Verde had noticed some smoke coming from the sample. Holding the tongs in one hand, he grabbed a conical flask in the other and upended it over the smoke. The shape of the flask ensured that the smoke stayed in the flask instead of coming straight back out.

"Oooohh~" Sings Tsunayoshi, standing up in his chair to press his hands against the glass and get a better look. It was all grey and swirly and misty! Verde corks the bottle for later examination before checking to see if the bottle was hot or not. Feeling that it was rather cold, Verde walks around and kneels infront of the now sitting Tsunayoshi, so the little boy can get a better look. Smoke in a jar was an interesting phenomenon to watch.

"Ne ne Verde! Make the next one blow up!" the little boy shouts, hands thrown wide to show the blowing up bit. Strange, that was the bit Colonnello and Skull liked too. In addition, Lal and Luce seemed to like watching things explode.

Getting back up, Verde places the conical jar somewhere safe, once more under the watchful eye of a camera to time the rate at which the smoke dissipated and whether any residue or sediment was left behind from an incomplete combustion. He makes sure to write his findings so far down before moving onto the next test. Whether the compound 'blew up' as Tsunayoshi wanted was still an unknown variable. However Verde liked the challenge of using his scientific knowledge to try and fill Tsunayoshi's requests, in a way similar to an intellectual game.

After setting up a stand and a clamp, a large sample was held between rubber jaws and two wires were connected. These wires then led around the table to a console on Tsunayoshi's side of the table. Verde had created this specifically for Tsunayoshi, since the boy had liked the idea of being the one to 'blow stuff up'. With a push of the button the electric current started. With the push of another button, the voltage increased by a predetermined amount. Another button was the off button. So whilst Tsunayoshi felt like he was the one in control, everything was still scientifically measured and controlled to still produce unbiased results. After all, he might as well get accurate and viable results whilst pleasing Tsunayoshi.

With everything connected, Verde gives Permission for Tsunayoshi to start the experiment. At lower voltages there is little reaction. However as more and more volts are pumped through the sample by the current, a clearer, more defined reaction occurs. The sample starts fizzing and making popping noises with small pieces falling off.

"Tsunayoshi stop there." says Verde carefully, still keeping an eye on the volatile compound infront of him. However Tsunayoshi was having a bit too much fun pressing the button and presses it a few times too many.

Verde rushes around the table in time to bring the boy close and fling the lab coat over him before Tsunayoshi gets his wish of seeing the sample explode. Admittedly the reaction was larger than Verde was expecting. He'd have to make a note of that. He keeps the boy covered as small dense shards of the sample fly across the room, some banging into the glass before falling to the table, others careening across the room. Luckily this was currently the only on-going chemical experiment so nothing else was destroyed.

When all is silent, a giggle ghosts through the lab. Verde can feel Tsunayoshi shaking next to him. The little boy throws off the tail of the lab coat and broadly grins at Verde, giggling constantly.

"Do it again Verde!" Tsunayoshi demands. Verde however, decided not to grant that request. Once was more than enough while Tsunayoshi was in the room.

Instead, they get the Bunsen burner back out and roast marshmallows.

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><p><strong>Can anyone guess what the abbreviation TFBLAR from the top means? <strong>**It's contextual I promise. **

**See you all next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 25 September 2012**

_A scientist learns, a day with Verde in his lab with his experiment and robots_


	40. A psychic guesses

Chapter 40: A psychic guesses

So for all of you who tried to guess what File: TFBLAR stood for, I shall reveal it now. Actually it's a bit of selfish advertising and stands for the title of another fic of mine: _The Fight Between Leon and Reborn_. Which if you haven't read it is about how Leon and Reborn meet; Leon's just been freed from being an Estraneo experiment, Reborn's just been cursed into Baby form that day and Checkerface brings them together on the mountain top. Leon helps Reborn to become the World Best Hitman once again, hence the reference. The Pacifier does weird things to them, such as forcing them to stay near each other, making them have to get used to each other. So take a read if you get bored.

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><p>Tsunayoshi looks around himself with eyes so wide it was amazing that they didn't fall out. There was just so much to see. And it made him forget about his sea sickness.<p>

Why would Tsunayoshi have sea sickness?

Because he had just had his first (that he could remember at least) boat ride. That's right, Tsunayoshi had just left Mafia Row. Everyone else was out of the house, even Luce had something important to do, and Viper had lost the competition to see who would take Tsunayoshi with them. But then again, todays tasks were some of the less dangerous ones. Today was not a Varia Day, with no crowns, guns, swords or feathers in sight. Instead, Viper had been asked if she would attend the world largest Psychic Fair. The Money said yes.

Luckily enough, the island of Mafia Row was relatively near the site for this Fair, and as such Viper took one of the boats and rode it to their destination. Tsunayoshi had not ridden a boat before (he couldn't remember the times as a baby), and he hadn't taken well to it. Luckily enough he had not been physically sick, but he had turned almost as green as Verde's hair. Fantasma was not much better, and the frog and the boy had spent most of the ride clinging to each other as they leant over the rails. Viper, not wanting either seasick lifeform to fall over the edge, had had one hand on each of them.

However now that they were back on dry land, both had recovered. Tsunayoshi was currently being held by Viper, twisting in her grip to do his best attempt of looking at everything at once. Fantasma had an easier time since he was sitting on Viper's head. Viper herself was a recognisable figure, with the frog on her head, her cloak and distinctive tattoos, so the crowd parted ways for her. She rather that people didn't since it brought attention to herself, but there was nothing else she could really do.

Viper was not like Luce, by the fact that she hated shopping. Shopping meant handing money over to people. It meant departing with her beloved. Nor did she like how 'window' shopping wasted time. Viper was not a woman who liked to browse the shops and see what was out there. Nope, she preferred to get straight to the point, do the transaction and leave. That way there were less people talking to her who wanted her to depart with her money. The same theory applied to this Fair. She was here to do her part and leave. However, there were a few shops that she needed to visit first. Annoyingly the location of stalls at this fair changed year by year. However she had a tool to combat that. Reaching into her cloak she grabs one of the sheets of toilet roll that was there. Why toilet roll? Quite simply it was the ratio of sheets to cost, aka cost per sheet. Toilet roll was very cheap to buy and you got a vastly huge quantity of it. Tissues, such as the ones in boxes, were more expensive and didn't do the job any better than toilet roll did. The choice was clear in her eyes.

Viper closed her eyes and took a breath in. Knowing what his mistress was doing, Fantasma started croaking in a rhythmic pattern. Tsunayoshi watched on in silence, somehow sensing something was going on here. Viper exhales before taking another breath in. As her lungs get to their full capacity, she sneezes into the piece of paper in her hand. She opens her eyes as Fantasma stops croaking. She takes a look at her newly created map, memorises the location of the stall she wants and sets off on her journey.

As she walks around the corner, she spots the stall she wants. Viper's eyes gleam and she heads straight for it; This was one of the few times people moving out of her way was useful. Tsunayoshi's eyes turn to the stall to see lots of different muted colours, lots of smoke and in some cases, pretty flames. However as they get closer, Tsunayoshi inhales some of this smoke and he sneezes. Fantasma has no such reaction and instead jumps off Viper's head, runs down her arm and onto the stall in question before searching around.

"Ah, Good Morning Miss Mammon and Fantasma." Greets the store holder, obviously happy to see the pair. He even pats the frog before moving a sign out of its way. "What can I get for you today? I believe you would love our new range of scents over here, we have a special offer running on them. But for you, I'll add it to your usual payment instead."

Viper had headed to her favourite Incense store since she needed to stock up. Incense was one luxury she allowed herself, purely to cover up the scent of sweat and 'Manliness' coming from Skull and Colonnello's rooms across the hallway from her. It was rather off-putting. Plus the incense helped her to concentrate and get in the right kind of mood for her divinations and other psychic affairs. More importantly, she needed some to help her gain money later on.

"I'll take my usual along with whatever Fantasma chooses." Viper says. The usual stuff was for her later on, and what Fantasma chose was for the house. The frog hated the smell as much as she did, and had an amazing smell-sense (as opposed to its fashion sense which was awful). The man behind the counter nods before pulling out a bundle of sticks from under the counter.

"I'd got them ready for ya since I knew you'd be coming." The man smiles before handing over a black bag. "And what d'ya want little guy?" he asks, bending down to look at Fantasma. Said frog was currently standing between two sticks of burning incense, looking back and forth between the two. Viper bounces Tsunayoshi in her arms slightly, gaining the child's attention.

She places Tsunayoshi down near where Fantasma was. "Which one do you like best between these two?" She asks him. Taking the first stick, she waves it in the air infront of Tsunayoshi, drawing some sort of symbol. After a second she prompts him to smell the smoke that was left behind. She repeats the process for the second stick.

Prepared for the strong smelling smoke, Tsunayoshi didn't sneeze this time. "Hmm, that is a hard pick Fantasma." The frog nods its agreement. "But I like the first one best!" Tsunayoshi clapped his hands when he made the decision before pointing to the one he meant.

"That's a good pick boy," comments the owner "created using a rare flower Down Under, I didn't tell anyone but it's limited edition." The owner then sets about bagging up the sticks of this rare incense before handing over the second bag to Viper. "I didn't expect ya to 'ave a kid Miss Mammon."

Viper blushes and quickly snatches the bag from the man's hand. "He's not my child by blood. However he is family."

Tsunayoshi beams brightly before saying in an extremely cute voice, "I love Mammon!"

Viper is quick to grab the child and the frog and vacate the area in as little time as possible.

"Viper, what's the 'usual payment'? You didn't give him any money. Luce says you have to give people money when you get stuff from them." Tsunayoshi asks curiously.

Deciding it was best to focus on the Money-orientated question rather than the memories of that scene, she quickly answers, "I have a deal with him. I get things for free and he can use my name as a selling point. If he says that I've brought a certain stick of incense, then other people are going to buy it too. It's mutually beneficial."

"Moo-chew-ly what?" he asks, not understanding that word.

"Mu-tu-al-ly Ben-i-fic-ial. Mutually means for everyone involved equally and beneficial means that it's good or a positive thing. So mutually beneficial means that it's a good thing for the both of us. Tell Verde that later, he'd be happy."

"Yeah! Verde would be happy!" sings Tsunayoshi.

They eventually come to an official looking table with people running to and from it, all holding pieces of paper and talking quickly. One person- who happens to be in the middle of the largest group of people- looks up and notices Viper's approach. Elbowing her way out of the crowd, she quickly comes over and shakes Viper's hand.

"Welcome back! Welcome Back, Miss Mammon. We are honoured that you could make time in your busy schedule to come here. Everything has been set up for you just like you asked for. Here, let me escort you." The smile never left the woman's face, even if she did look drop dead tired already. The Fair hadn't even started yet. It was only support staff and other traders that were here at the moment.

They follow the nice lady to a room leading off the main walkway. Viper was sure to get lots of customers from this position. Already signage and banners had been placed around to advertise. They are lead inside where black and purple curtains are covering the walls. Apart from that, there is very little else in the room, just a table and chairs along with stands in each corner.

"Would you like me to get a chair for your guest too?" asks the lady, finally noticing Tsunayoshi hiding behind Viper's cloak. Viper nods and the lady talks into the walkie-talkie attached to her hip. Within minutes another chair is brought along and covered in a purple material to match the rest of the room. After that the Manager says some other things that were all basically meaningless polite babble before leaving.

Viper places her bags down on the table before bringing out the first of the bundles of incense. "Fantasma, check these." She prompts. The frog climbs out of her cloak and sniffs the sticks before nodding and retreating back into the warmth. Viper walks outside before placing the sticks into their holders and lighting them.

"Viper, what are they for?" Tsunayoshi asks, watching her place the sticks all around the doorway and the surrounding area.

Now finished, Viper brings Tsunayoshi back inside and closes the door. "They are to draw customers in. According to research Verde did for me, the individual notes of this scent draws in customers and makes them more willing to part with their money. Something to do with the effects these scents have on the brain, I'm not sure. But he said this one was the best one to use, so that's why I buy it regularly. It was worth paying him since my revenue increased more than enough to cover the cost and make a reasonable profit on top. I had Fantasma check them to see if they still contained all of the ingredients that were needed. Verde trained him to be able to detect them all for me." Tsunayoshi looks at Viper with wide eyes.

"Fantasma's awesome then!" he smiles. It amazed Viper that Tsunayoshi wasn't worried about her immoral and unethical use of science to gain a profit, but then again this was Tsunayoshi and he was only young. "And so is Verde. He's so nice helping you like that." Yeah… sure… Verde was nice. It had nothing to do with the blackmail she had stored away, or the considerably large sum of cash that changed hands… No, Verde was just nice wasn't he.

No one minded Viper's blackmail since they all knew deep down that she wouldn't give it out. Viper may seem ruthless when it came to money, and would go to considerable, and sometimes dislikeable, lengths to obtain it, but she was also loyal to those she deemed worthy of it. She knew the others needed her just as much as she needed them. Viper knew that she may have been dead several times over without the protection and support the Arcobaleno gave her, whether it was physical protection from people who owed her money and didn't want to pay (Reborn loved harming these guys for her), or making sure she stayed healthy and ate properly- it gave Luce someone to mother over. They were there for her so she was there for them. And she couldn't exactly do that if she threatened them and they hated her.

Viper took a look at her mobile (Luce insisted on everyone having one) to check what the time was and saw it was nearly time for the Fair to open. "Tsunayoshi, come here." Asks Viper, reaching into a different bag she had brought with her from home. Tsunayoshi follows her over to where the bag is, before looking at the object in her hands. His eyes light up and he starts jumping and bouncing whilst clapping in excitement.

"I get to wear that?!" He asks in utter exhilaration. He was going to wear a mini version of Viper's cloak! How awesome was that? Viper rolls her eyes but can't help smiling as she throws the cloak over Tsunayoshi's shoulders and ties it closed before pulling the hood up.

"Luce made it especially for you in case you ever came out with me. She said something about it completing my image at work. Luckily enough you haven't grown taller a lot since this was made." She rummages around in the bag before producing some makeup and a paint brush. "Stay still!" Viper asks when Tsunayoshi starts bouncing around once more. He couldn't believe he was getting the tattoos too! It was a shame that he couldn't get actual ones like Viper had, but no one would let him, not even Viper herself.

Not long after they are finished, there is a knock at the door. Viper sits down on the seat before pulling Tsunayoshi onto her lap and warning him not to say anything.

"You may enter." Viper says.

The door opens, and a lady in a wizard costume walks in, looking around the room. "Is this it?" the lady rudely asks. Viper rolls her eyes since some people asked that. The room was bare because she didn't need anything else to do her job. Anyone with crystal balls, stars, Wiccan signs, or astrological signs about the place either was a fake or was preying on the type of customer who liked clichés. Viper was the real deal and therefore didn't need any gimmicks to cover up her lack of talent.

Viper gestures to the seat across the table from her instead of answering the question. The lady does so before leaning forwards in a business like manor. "I hear that you're the best. So I want my fortune told please."

One of the most common things she was asked for was for fortunes to be told, so it was a good thing that she was ESPer Mammon, and Precognitive abilities were one of her skills.

Viper was silent for a few moments and the customer patiently sat there, eyes fixed on Viper's form, watching every little twitch and movement.

"If you keep on working on that Business deal with the Chinese company, it shall prosper. You should work through any problems that occur and you will be rewarded greatly in the end. You'll finally have enough money to buy that diamond necklace you keep on looking at in Lacie's." There is more silence for a few moments at the lady across the table collects herself and gets her jaw off the table.

"You really think that deal is worth it? I keep on telling the Bosses but they don't listen to me." Pouts the customer, leaning her elbows on the table.

Viper nods. "You have a good business sense. For the seeable future you'll create many good ones. However, I'd stay away from the Russians, they'll try to trick you like they did last time. You shouldn't fall for it this time around." Viper continues.

The woman drops her jaw again. "How did you know about that? Hardly anyone knows about that, it was never made public. You really must be good." Smiling, the lady reaches across the table and vigorously shakes Viper's hand. "Thank you! It was better than I thought it was going to be." She left a pile of cash on the table before bowing and leaving the room.

Viper's hand shoots out and grabs the money before counting it in a practiced gesture. This makes Tsunayoshi giggle since it was so like her.

"That Lady is a lucky one. You were right, she'll be good at her job." Tsunayoshi smiles.

Viper looks down at the boy. "How do you figure that?"

Tsunayoshi furrows his eyebrows and brings a hand to his chin. "I don't really know. I just got this feeling." Even before the revelation at the Bovino House, Viper had learnt that these feelings were often true. It was interesting to see that their predictions matched.

Before she can ask anything else, there is another knock at the door. This time a man enters and sits down.

Viper is surprised when Tsunayoshi grabs her cloak and buries his face in it. However she didn't have time to worry over him at the moment.

Sometimes when she wanted things to go quicker, or when she wanted to understand her customers better, she used her telepathy to read the customer's mind. This time certainly sped up the process. It was also now clear why Tsunayoshi was crying into her robe. "What you are thinking is true. You're time on this Earth is nearly up."

The man looks at her with eyes that accepted the truth since he had guessed it himself. "How much-"

"I would say you have a month left to live. You're going to feel worse during that time, but your passing shall be painless. If it's any help to ease your mind, I know that, whilst they may grieve and be affected by your loss, very few bad things will happen to them from now on. You can leave them knowing you've done enough to set them up for a good life. You've done well for them."

The man nods, tears falling from his own eyes. The man stands up, wipes the tears away and takes the payment from his pocket before laying it on the table. "Thank you." He whispers before leaving.

Tsunayoshi looks up as the door closes. "It's so sad." He sniffs. "He is a good person. He doesn't deserve to disappear." Viper agreed, and stroked the boy's back in a soothing manor. Fantasma crawls down Viper's sleeve to appear infront of the boy. Tsunayoshi picked him up and gave the frog a cuddle before stroking him.

"Not everything I have to say is happy Tsunayoshi. It is a truth of this world that there is bad and good. Everything must come to an end eventually, it is an inescapable fact. However at least he can properly say goodbye to the people he loves before leaving them."

After a few minutes, when Tsunayoshi has calmed down, still stroking Fantasma, the next customer arrives.

"You want me to tell you about your boyfriend? Whether he's suitable for you or not?" The lady nods before looking at Viper expectantly.

This was something that required Viper's Retrocognative abilities. After a few moments, she said, "He's been cheating on you. It's true that he does love you, however he doesn't like-" Viper suddenly remembers that a small child is in the room and covers the boy's ears with her hands. "how you are in bed. He goes to this other woman for a purely physical relationship. But like I said, that doesn't mean he doesn't love you. You've been his longest relationship so far. He's never kept a woman for longer than 2 years, 3 months and 12 days before."

The girl before Viper doesn't look happy, in fact she looks like she wants to punch something. So before the woman can get too angry, Viper continues on, "You should remember all that he's done for you, like the trip to the gallery in Paris, or the trip to the Pyramids. You need to remember that date on August 14th. Remember the top 5 things you like about him: his intelligence, his job and pay, your shared interests, his looks, and the respect he gives you. Weigh that up against his only mistake and see whether he's still worth it."

The girl thinks about this for a moment. She gets up and starts mumbling angrily to herself. With clenched fists she pays Viper and leaves.

"Poor Lady." Comments Tsunayoshi. "Ne, Viper are you connected to the Ranking Planet too?"

Viper wasn't expecting that question and slowly looks down at the boy. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you said her top things she likes about him, right? That's what Fuuta does too." Tsunayoshi had seen Fuuta last week when Verde had made another visit. Apparently his top flavour of ice cream was Vanilla Chocolate Chip.

"No, I'm not. I just used what's known as Clairvoyance. It's an ability to be able to gather information about a person or object that I shouldn't be able to know otherwise." She explains. Tsunayoshi nods, kind of getting what she was talking about.

"You know Tsunayoshi, they say that ESP is also known as intuition. So maybe you have it too." The Vongola Hyper Intuition may have been a type of ESP passed down through bloodlines. Although as far as she could tell, Tsunayoshi's intuition only worked on people though, whereas hers worked on objects too. Him being able to stop Lal's traps was purely down to the training they had put him through, and possibly this other Tsuna's memories and experiences.

The day continued on in a similar fashion, with various reactions coming from Tsunayoshi even before the clients had said anything. But altogether, they had a fun time.

"Can you do my future Viper?" Tsunayoshi asks on the way home, trying not to be sick from the waves.

"Well, I predict that you're going to be a pain in the ass, a huge depletion in my bank account, a cause of worry, concern… and someone that I want to keep seeing in my future for a very long time."

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><p><strong>Well then, there we go. I hope you all enjoyed it and aren't high on a marshmallow rush from last chapter. <strong>

**And I can't believe I've left this for so long, but please check out this awesome fanart by Amplifying Loud. **

**http: (/) baby g panda. (It doesn't like this word, keeps on deleting it even with loads of spaces, but it's the usual site) art .com (/) art (/) Tsunayoshi - with - Natsu - Rawr - 311568779**

**I'm so sorry for leaving this so long Panda! *bows Gokudera style many many **_**many**_** times***

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 27 September 2012**

_A psychic guesses,- at a fair where she's doing her work. People enter the tent, and Tsunayoshi says whether they are good or not with HI, she doesn't serve the man who Tsuna hates,. Tsuna cried for a man whose about to die. Oppsie, forgot a bit :P_

Esper:

Precognition- the ability to predict the future

Retrocognition- the ability to tell past events when there is no other way for the user to have known that.

Clairevoyance- present seeing, the ability to gather information about a person or object through means other than the human senses

Telepathy- to hear others thoughts.


	41. And a Martial Artist does Naturally

Chapter 41

And a Martial Artist does Naturally.

_A reminder that I do not own KHReborn, nor the third Opening by Cherryblossom. _

Hello Everyone. I have another awesome piece of far art to show you. It's a **moving** picture of Viper Rolling in Money, inspired by a talk between me and Yoshikuni Itoe about Viper selling the Map Tsunayoshi created a while ago. I mentioned that she'd be rolling in money and now we all have a visual. So I hope you all go support her and check it out. It's simply adorable!

Since we all know that the name of this website never appears when its written in fics, it's the usual place (DA) just type in Viper Rolling In Money into the search bar and it comes up.

Second, I would like to thank my wonderful Guest reviewer from last chapter to be the only person to mention my favourite line from last chapter. I was laughing my head off as I wrote it and I'm glad to find someone else who liked it as much as I do.

**So to my Guest reviewer:** I agree, that line does suit Viper scarily well! I'm glad you like my updating speed, it's always been like this until I hit the summer holidays and then it went down the drain, lol. Hopefully, I'll be able to update twice weekly from now on. I'm very happy that you find these chapters satisfying, it's a nice compliment XD. The first few chapters were shaky since this is not my preferred writing style, but I'm happy to think that I've improved. I would be worried otherwise. I think after meeting Viper, none of us will look at Money the same again!

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><p>Tsunayoshi wakes up in the unsurprisingly cold room, glad that Viper had a special cloak she even wore to bed. Otherwise, he would need lots more layers to keep warm. As it was he was under her cloak, as well as being under the covers and another blanket. Viper's philosophy was why waste money on heating when layers were the cheaper option? He didn't mind, he just classed it as a free hug. So crawling his way out of the multiple layers, Tsunayoshi looks over towards the clock. Hmm, time for breakfast. He creeps over to Fantasma to see of the frog was awake yet. Fantasma had his own heating system otherwise he'd never be able to survive the coldness of Viper's room. The frog liked to be warm, hence why, out of his tank, he lived in Viper's cloak, in a pocket next to her heart where it was the warmest.<p>

Seeing that the frog was actually awake, Tsunayoshi stood on the stool next to it and dipped his hand inside. Fantasma crawls over and climbs up his arm, causing Tsunayoshi to giggle. As soon as he does, both freeze for a moment before Fantasma makes a mad dash up Tsunayoshi's arm. As the pair suspected, Viper groans, rolls over and sleep-throws a Mist knife in the direction of the sound. Tsunayoshi ducks before running out of the room and gently closing the door behind him. Let it be known that Viper does not like her sleep disrupted.

Tsunayoshi runs into the kitchen, smiling brightly and wishes everyone a good morning. The responses vary depending on the ratio of caffeine to blood in their respective systems, except for Luce who was happy at any ungodly hour. Fon too gives Tsunayoshi a pleasant good morning in return. With a dozing Fantasma on his head Tsunayoshi walks over and jumps up to sit on Fon. Lichi and Fantasma exchange a good morning too before the pair jump onto the table for their own respective breakfasts.

"Did you enjoy the fair yesterday Reborn?" Tsunayoshi asks innocently.

Reborn glares at Tsunayoshi from under his fedora and pulls it down lower before barking out, "I don't know what you're talking about brat." Tsunayoshi just smiles and accepts it as it is. He had not been surprised to feel Reborn watching them at odd points throughout the day yesterday. Being able to sense when one of the Arcobaleno was watching him was a skill he excelled in. And Reborn was his most common stalker. It was surprising that his first real time off the island was with just Viper as company (not that Viper couldn't keep him safe, she was Varia Quality after all), but having Reborn there answered a few of those worries. Everyone trusted Reborn to keep anyone harmful at bay. All the customers who had seen Esper Mammon yesterday had been very nice actually. Very Nice…

"Tsunayoshi," Fon interrupts his thinking moment, "How would you like to accompany me today?"

Tsunayoshi swallows his bite to toast before smiling and hugging Fon around the neck. "I'd love that! Where are we going? When are we going? What are we going to do? Who are we goin-"

"Patience Tsunayoshi. Curiosity is a good quality in small pieces. You don't want to ruin the surprise now do you?" Tsunayoshi shakes his head. He liked surprises so it was best not to ruin them. But he was so excited to be going somewhere else today!

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later finds Tsunayoshi sitting on the front deck cross-legged, Fon opposite him, both of them focusing on breathing exercises. Tsunayoshi was feeling sea sick once again. Lichi is sitting in the gap between Tsunayoshi's legs, copying along with the exercise. Fon wasn't sea sick, but the best way to conduct these exercises was by doing it too, to be able to control the breathing time effectively. Tsunayoshi is certainly looking less green than when he arrived home yesterday. Sadly for Tsunayoshi this boat ride was longer than the one from yesterday.<p>

When they do eventually arrive on land, they still have to walk for a short while before coming to a village hall. There is quite a crowd surrounding this place and everyone cheers when the pair arrive. Tsunayoshi is immediately the attention of doting mothers and other women who are all worried about the seasick cutie. Fon quickly plucks the child from these women before any damage can befall the child. Tsunayoshi gives him a smile in thanks. That had been scary. Apart from when he met up with the Cervello, he had never been mauled by women like that before. And he though Luce could be scary at times, try multiplying that by one hundred. Tsunayoshi dearly hoped never to repeat that experience again.

After another half an hour of pleasantries, welcomes, talks and other things, the crowd depart, leaving Fon and Tsunayoshi with around 20 or so children. Whilst not the whole population of children from this tiny fishing village, it was quite the large majority of them. Despite being famous, Fon still took the time to visit the tiny places maps often forgot. He derived much pleasure from meeting the people of these small villages and towns, comparing them to his childhood, and enjoying the greater innocence and purity the places offered compared to the big and bustling cities and towns.

Lichi perks up from her place on Fon's head now that the crowds have gone and take a better look around. Noticing the children, she jumps from Fon, onto Tsunayoshi, and from there onto the heads of all the other children, making the circuit with ease. The children laugh and gape at the monkey, all smiling as she lands on them before pouting as she leaves. Eventually she makes her way back to Fon, and that's when Fon starts his lesson.

Fon was here as a special instructor for their self-defence and martial arts lessons. Whilst not teaching them his special technique, he did teach them the basics of the other more common styles of martial arts. Tsunayoshi and I-pin were to be the only two people Fon wanted to teach his special forms to. And if not for her age, I-pin would have been brought along.

"Fon, who's that?" questions one little boy, pointing towards Tsunayoshi. Fon insisted that none of these pupils call him master since he was not their full time teacher, just a guest intruding for a small period of time. Nor did Mr Fon sound right either.

Fon smiles and crouches down next to Tsunayoshi, affectionately ruffling the boy's hair before leaving the hand on Tsunayoshi's head as he explained, "This is Tsunayoshi, a member of my family. I teach him how to defend himself too, so I thought you'd like to have a lesson with him as well." The little children look at Tsunayoshi before smiling and waving in greeting.

When order is retained once more, Fon starts with a basic warm up. "Ne, Fon, can we do it Colonnello's way?" asks Tsunayoshi.

Fon smiles and agrees, watching as Tsunayoshi runs over to the CD player. Patience and slowness were not things children of their age understood very well, and the children responded better to being active. Fon saw no reason to not follow the usual procedure when everything ended up at the same result anyway. The children were still being introduced to discipline at this age, and a slow warm up was something they could always adopt later. Plus he was here to give the children a change from their usual lessons anyway, so why not have a fast warm up?

As the music starts, the children murmur at the change before Tsunayoshi returns to the front and shouts encouragements at them.

_~Jumpin'! Yeah oh run on time!_ ~

Fon is surprised when Tsunayoshi starts doing _their_ usual warm up, yet at the faster pace, instead of using the one Colonnello had already taught the boy. The girls and boys watching, noting the familiarity of the moves, overcome their nerves at something new and join in with Tsunayoshi.

_~B-b-b-b-b-burning Hit Time!~_

So whilst the punches, kicks and held movements might not be as accurate as they usually were, it was worth it to see the smiles on the children's faces.

~_Show me, Fly the Sky!~_

Once the song ends and the children have finished warming up and singing the lesson truly begins. Tsunayoshi remains standing next to Fon, a metre or so away, with Lichi standing in-between Tsunayoshi and her master. The first thing that Fon does is go through the basic movements one at a time, starting off slowly and building them up.

"One." He would say and the children would stand in the basic stance and give a punch with their right hand.

"Two." Would be a punch with the other hand.

Three and four consisted of the basic kick, and the numbers thereon started on different forms and harder versions of the basics.

Tsunayoshi stands at the front, doing the exact same thing everyone else is doing with a cute little look of concentration on his face, his breathing slow and even. The other children keep taking looks at him, watching the way someone closer to their age and size did the moves. By this time Tsunayoshi was quite proficient in these basics, and felt as if he could do them in his sleep. Which was a good thing in case he ever did have to defend himself (and God pity whoever the fool that attacked him was). In return, Tsunayoshi was amazed at how well the others were doing considering they didn't have Fon as a teacher all the time like he did. Not to boast or anything, but Fon _was_ the best after all. But then again, they most likely didn't have Lal, Colonnello and Reborn on them the whole time either. (After seeing all of the other houses in Mafia Row, Tsunayoshi finally realised that their house was not _normal_ in any sense of the word. And he rather liked that fact. Normal was boring otherwise.)

Fon had been keeping an eye on the others, walking around as he spoke the numbers. By the time he had started walking around the others had done a few sets, and anyways, Tsunayoshi and Lichi were still at the front for anyone who got lost. Every now and again he'd stop and correct one of the children's posture, warn them to straighten a leg here or suck in their stomach there. At one point, he started watching Tsunayoshi, a proud smile on his face over how well the child was doing. So involved in watching his student was he, that he accidently counted one step too far.

"Eleven." He said continuing on the count. The other children in the class moved back into the basic position before realising that they didn't know what the eleventh movement was. Alternatively, Tsunayoshi, in an almost trance like rhythm caused by the repetitious movement and controlled breathing, just carried on on auto-pilot, bringing his leg in before flicking it out in a sweeping move. Quickly realising his mistake, Fon decides to make it into part of the class, and says the next four numbers, ending at 15.

"And that, young ones, are the next 5 moves that you will learn once you're good enough at the previous 10 you already know. So if you continue to work hard in lessons and practice in a safe environment at home then you'll quickly start to learn these movements too." The children nod in excitement before looking between him and Tsunayoshi and then clapping. "Indeed, a fine presentation there Tsunayoshi. I see you've grasped those moves excellently too. They were perfect forms."

Tsunayoshi ducks his head and blushes bright red over the praise. Whilst Fon was not stringent with praise, he didn't hand it out easily either. To have such high compliments from Fon truly meant something. Tsunayoshi couldn't be prouder of himself. Lichi takes this moment to jump and sit on Tsunayoshi's head, clapping too.

"Now let's have the cool down shall we?" recommends Fon to draw the attention away from Tsunayoshi. Cooling down was just as important as a warm up after all. Tsunayoshi nods and takes the cue before running back over to the CD player and turning the tempo button down. This time the song came out at a slower pace, one more suitable to cooling off and stretching with.

_~l-l-lets go, music party~ _Tsunayoshi started singing to this slowed down version too, adding in a funny slow-mo voice, which made the others giggle. It couldn't beat Colonnello's slow-mo voice though, Tsunayoshi had to admit.

_~nice tension, pay attention~_ Which rather suited a stretch in Fon's opinion, due to the tension on one's leg muscles at the precise moment.

_~Are you ready? Go-Go ready Go Go!~_

* * *

><p>Luckily enough for the small boy, Tsunayoshi slept through the boat ride back. Fon placed him on the sofa before going and getting a drink. He came back and sat next to Tsunayoshi, stroking the boy's hair as he drank his tea. He was proud of Tsunayoshi today; the boy had done well.<p>

"You know it always amazes me how much like Reborn you are, despite how much you claim not to be. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery some say." Fon says sagely, still looking down at the little boy next to him instead to the other person who had just entered the room.

"As if!" Colonnello denies. "There's no way I'd copy that-"

"Language Colonnello," chides Fon, raising an eyebrow in disapproval. Colonnello pouts before crossing his arms and sitting down on the other side of the sleeping Tsunayoshi. He'd have to work on his spy technique if Fon noticed him watching them today.

"He looks up to you a lot, you know," quietly informs Colonnello, smiling down at Tsunayoshi. "Whenever he gets the closest he ever gets to being stressed, he goes out onto the garden and practices those movements of yours. I think you're a source of calm and stability to him, especially with how whacko us lot are."

Fon hides a small laugh behind a robed hand. "You do know you've just insulted yourself right?"

Colonnello nods. "Yeah, I do." He sighs.

"However you shouldn't be so hard on yourself," Fon adds in a while later. "He finds you calming too. Why else would he keep wanting to go and lay in a forest? For the backache and coldness?"

As Tsunayoshi rolls over and absently hugs Colonnello's arm in his sleep, Colonnello thinks about the truth in that statement. No, it certainly was not for the backache.

* * *

><p><strong>Short chapter is short, I'm afraid, but I never find writing a Fon-centric chapter easy. Plus I wrote this rather quickly too. Sorry if it's not as good as usual.<strong>

**Oh and whilst it's still September, please make sure to check out the fic I wrote for Gokudera's Birthday, entitled **Love through the Bazooka Cloud**, which is kind of a love square between Tsuna and Gokudera and their TYL selves. It makes sense once you read it. **

**See you on Thursday!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 30 September 2012**

_As a martial artists does it naturally- Tsuna helps Fon to teach little kids martial arts._


	42. Whilst a stuntman tries his hardest

Chapter 42: Whilst a stuntman tries his hardest.

Looking back over the reviews I've had for this fic, it had become clear that I need to say this:

WARNING: **Do NOT eat or drink whilst reading Mafia Row.** I don't want any of you laughing at this fic and then choking to death. Nor should you be near anything breakable or something you can hit yourself on, or indeed fall off of. Like I said at the start, the Mafia Row Committee is not responsible for any deaths that occur. What you all need to do is find yourself a nice little white padded room and then read this fic.

Found one yet?

And with that out of the way… Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Knocking on the door to Colonnello's room, Skull didn't hear any answering reply. Slowly and extremely carefully, the stuntman opens the door and peaks his head inside. He didn't want Colonnello to hit him after all. But just like he suspected, Colonnello and Lal had already left for the day. How they could get up before the sun did, Skull didn't know, but then again he didn't sleep until the sun was at its peak like Viper did either. Hidden under blue camouflage blankets was Tsunayoshi, curled up around Natsu. It seemed to Skull that Tsunayoshi had rolled across the bed into the warm spot where Colonnello used to be once the soldier had left.<p>

Opening the door wider now that he knows it's safe to enter, Skull walks over to Tsunayoshi, lifts up the covers and shakes the boy's shoulder. "Tsunayoshi… Tsunayoshi…" he whispers loudly, Skull didn't really do quiet.

Tsunayoshi stretches, eyes still closed, before rolling over into a new position. Skull shakes his head over the action before attempting to wake the boy again, this time shaking Tsunayoshi through a hand on his hip. Tsunayoshi groans before rolling over, flinging a hand out in the process. Skull, who had been leaning over to see whether the child had opened his eyes yet or not, got whacked by the fist, although it was more like a backhanded slap.

Skull yelped and THAT woke Tsunayoshi up.

"Stop hurting Skull!" Tsunayoshi shouts, sitting up immediately. Hazy eyes scan the room and seeing no one else there focus in on Skull. He yawns, one hand rubbing his eye. "Oh, Good Morning Skull." Skull didn't know whether to focus on the adorable image Tsunayoshi was making, or whether to be pleased that Tsunayoshi's immediate reaction to him yelping was to defend him… but then again that meant that it had become instinct. Tsunayoshi didn't protect him that much did he?

Did he?

"Boy Skull, you're so messy," giggles Tsunayoshi, standing up on the bed. He leans forwards into Skull's personal space, hands reaching for his face. Skull blinks out of his thoughts to suddenly find Tsunayoshi extra extra close. Gentle hands touch the chain on his lip, twisting it back into it's correct shape so it sits properly.

"Wahh! Tsunayoshi, what are you doing?" asks Skull, blushing furiously but unable to step backwards since Tsunayoshi technically had him on a leash. What he could do however, was flail his hands in the air.

Tsunayoshi looks up at him, his mouth pursed in confusion, head tilted to the side. "Hmm? I was fixing it. It was crooked." He goes back to fixing the chain before stepping backwards and clapping. "There aaalll done~".

Skull backpedals as quickly as he can, tripping over and landing on his bottom in the process. Tsunayoshi gasps and jumps down from the bed. He also trips over whatever Skull tripped over and goes flying, landing on Skull.

"Hehe… seems we're both clumsy, ne?" smiles Tsunayoshi, albeit slightly embarrassedly. Skull can't help but agree. Clumsiness wasn't something he taught Tsunayoshi was it? He knew the boy looked up to all of the Arcobaleno as role models, but was being clumsy all he was good for? Or maybe, NO!, Clumsiness couldn't be caught could it? Had he infected Tsunayoshi with it? He quickly grabs Tsunayoshi and runs down the stairs before dashing into the kitchen.

"Verde, fix him!" Skull shouts, thrusting Tsunayoshi into Verde's face. Observer and Observational Subject look at each other, Tsunayoshi signalling that he doesn't have a clue what's going on either. When Verde makes no move to do anything, not seeing any worrying signs on the boy- no blood, no bruises, nor signs of laboured breathing, coughing or a runny nose- Skull runs over to Luce instead. "Please don't kill me Luce. I didn't mean to give it to him! But I don't know how to take it back!" Luce blinks, used to seeing Skull in a panic and knowing that until he became coherent, it was best just to leave him to it. So Skull runs over to Fon instead. "Ah! Fon, do that Chinese purification, Feng Shui, thing where we strip him and place him under a waterfall. You've got a waterfall in the garden don't you? We'll use that!"

Fon politely hides his grin under his robed hand. "Calm down Skull. You seem to be in a mix up. For a start, Feng Shui is for bringing positive energy into a room, not for purifying children. Secondly, the ceremony you are referring to is not Chinese but Japanese and is called Misogi."

"But none of that matters!" says Skull, annoyed that no one was seeing the seriousness of the situation.

Suddenly a dark aura fills the room and a deep voice hisses "Well something had better be the matter. Someone has awaken me from my sleep." Oh God, he'd woken Viper up!. No wait! She could help.

He runs over to her and lifts Tsunayoshi to be face to face with her hood. "You've got to help Viper, can't you cleanse him or spiritually purify him with your Black Magic?"

Viper raises an eyebrow and takes in the situation. Her Money Radar starts beeping. Kaching! Putting on a sweet voice she says, "Well, since it's Tsunayoshi I'll see what I can do. But you know…"

Skull nods his head emphatically. "Of course, anything! Just please cure him!"

At the mention of a cure she looks over to their resident scientist to find him as blank faced as usual, meaning he had no clue what was going on either. Then she remembers that Skull was shouting something about a purification and her black magic. Verde didn't believe in such unfounded and unscientifically proven things, so of course Skull would come to her. She places Tsunayoshi on the table before Fantasma hands her a piece of white chalk.

Seeing her intentions Luce interferes "Ah-ah Viper, not on the table dear." Viper quickly relocates the boy onto the floor instead. It'd be easy to wipe the chalk off of this surface. As quickly as she could, she draws a complicated magic circle with Tsunayoshi at the centre. Tsunayoshi himself just sits there, wondering what he's done now. Although it was interesting to watch Viper draw the circle. It was pretty.

"There," announces Viper, straightening up. "To finish I need to know what I'm purifying him of… to draw the last symbols and things." The others don't take her lie, but Skull… poor gullible Skull…

"Of course! You've got to make sure to do it really really well! Tsunayoshi needs curing of-" The Arcobaleno in the room lean forwards in anticipation, half ready to be worried and half ready to laugh out loud, this was Skull after all.

"My Clumsiness."

Verde and Fon nearly fall out of their chairs at the revelation. Luce snorts before bursting into a fit of giggles. Viper glares at the others, wanting them to pretend to take this seriously. If they gave the game away then she'd lose out on her money!

A gunshot sounds as a bullet wizzes past Skull's face (and carefully out of the open kitchen window and innocently into the garden). "Skull you idiot. Clumsiness is not something you can catch, or pass on luckily, or else we'd all be affected by your stupidity. Even Colonnello knows better than that."

Skull stares at Reborn for a moment before falling to the floor in relief. So it wasn't his fault after all. "Ahh, why didn't you guys say so earlier!" he whines to the others. "I was so scared that I'd done something wrong."

"I'm still getting paid, and you're paying the fee for waking me up for a stupid reason." Viper proclaims before stalking out of the room and back up to bed.

"Umm, can someone get me out?" asks Tsunayoshi, holding his hands in the air. "I don't want to ruin Viper's pretty picture." Luce nods and grabs the boy before lifting him up and placing him on the kitchen counter.

Skull crawls over to the table, climbs onto a chair and lays his head on the table top. Boy what a morning.

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi was currently doing this thing Skull called 'flying'. However Tsunayoshi was sure that Skull was wrong. What they were doing was not flying, it didn't feel right. He had a vague memory-like feeling of what flying should be like, and this was not it. What birds did was flying, what planes did was driving… but in the air. Yeah, that was better, they were driving in a plane in the air all the way to America. He would have to get Verde to convince Skull that they were not flying but driving at the moment. Verde would understand and explain it.<p>

A few hours later, once they've landed and driven to wherever they are going to today, Tsunayoshi finds himself infront of what Skull calls a stadium. He'd never been to one of these before. Mafia Row didn't have one. Nor did, as far as he knew, the Arcobaleno have a private one stashed away inside their infinite garden. He gets out of the car after Skull does, only to be met by the sounds of screaming and flashing lights. No this was not a dynamite battle, but screaming fans and the lights of cameras. Scared, Tsunayoshi steps backwards and hides behind Skull's leather clad leg. He too was wearing leather, and a helmet over his face. He was in the same outfit as Skull wore, only in orange instead of Skull's purple.

The female population of fans scream louder at the cute display, especially as Skull grabs Tsunayoshi and hefts him to rest on his hip. With one hand supporting Tsunayoshi, he uses the other to pull off a 'rock' sign. Laughing in that proud way of this persona, Skull shouts out his famous opening lines, "Bwahaha. Bow down mere mortals. The Immortal Skull has come back from Hell to give you all the show of your lives."

Oh, Oh! Tsunayoshi knew the rest of this. Making a hand gesture similar to Skull's, Tsunayoshi shouts out, "It's so good it's a Sin to watch!" The crowd cheer loudly at this knowing that the show has started already. Skull walks on down the roped off walkway and into the stadium.

The fans left behind keep on cheering until they can no longer see the stunt man.

"I never knew that the Immortal Skull had a child."

"Neither did I. I didn't even know he had a girlfriend. All the magazines say he's single."

Whilst the fans ponder this conundrum, they realise how contradictory yet complimentary the sight of purple and orange is together.

Now inside of the stadium, all of the stage hands descend on Skull. "Great opening as usual Skull, it was perfect." Says one woman, tattoos up her arms and a piercing through her eyebrow.

"Thanks Melissa," says Skull, before turning to answer a question someone else had asked about the set up. Tsunayoshi just looks around, not understanding anything. They were all speaking whatever language the Nuevo had spoken, Umm… English, that was it. He didn't speak that. Skull's catchphrase quite literally exhausted his knowledge of the English Language. He did know Skull's catchphrase in English, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Russian- taught by the other members of Mafia Row.

Finally they enter a dressing room and most of the people leave. Skull puts Tsunayoshi down before kneeling infront of him. Sensing that Skull wanted to say something important, he removes the orange helmet. Skull too removes his helmet, revealing rarely seen serious and determined eyes. "Do you trust me Tsunayoshi?"

Tsunayoshi stares Skull right in the eyes and returns seriousness for seriousness. "When it comes to my safety, I trust no one more."

Skull takes a few seconds before tears fall from his eyes. "Waahhh, Tsunayoshi!" Skull leans forwards and hugs the boy. "No one's ever said that before."

"Oh Skull don't cry, the makeup…" worries Tsunayoshi.

Skull laughs slightly before sniffing, "Don't worry about that Tsunayoshi. The reason I got tattoos in the first place was because I was such a coward and cried so much that the makeup kept running. It didn't make for a pretty picture after a stunt to find purple streaks down my face. At least the tattoos don't run." He leans back and wipes his eyes. "I promise to keep you safe Tsunayoshi. I swear it. And if you ever feel uncomfortable or just want to stop, say the word and I will. I don't care if it's in the middle of the show-"

"But Skull, your fans won't like that!" argues Tsunayoshi in dismay.

Skull shakes his head. "I don't care about that Tsunayoshi. I'd much prefer you to be safe and happy than to have a crowd of pleased strangers. You mean far more to me than them." Tsunayoshi nods, accepting Skull's word. "Alright then. These helmets were made especially by Verde for us. They are extra hard so you shouldn't receive any damage no matter what happens. They are also bullet and acid proof. Finally, if you press this button, then we can talk to each other. Press this switch and we can hear each other constantly. So even if I'm not talking, know that I can hear you at any time." Tsunayoshi nods and presses the switch. Skull stands up and places his helmet under his arm. "Okay then, all ready and suited up?" he asks. Tsunayoshi nods once more. "Right! Let's get going then."

* * *

><p>"ARE YOU READY?!" shouts Skull, voice amplified around the huge dirt track stadium so everyone could hear. The crowd roars in return.<p>

"I said are you ready?" Skull asks again, riling the crowd up into a fever frenzy. "Good! So let's knock on Death's Door!"

With the sound of screams in his ears, Skull places on his helmet and runs over to where his motorcycle is. "Skull," says Tsunayoshi quietly. "I hope the Reaper rejects you again tonight."

Skull smiles broadly even if no one can see. "Of course he will Tsunayoshi. I'm just that great! He can't take my awesomeness. " Tsunayoshi chuckles.

"Yeah! Of course you are!" agrees Tsunayoshi in a cheerful voice.

Skull revs the engine before performing a doughnut in the dust and blasting off towards the start of his course. He rides up a hill before jumping off at the top, flying into the air. He does this a couple more times, over relatively small bumps to gain speed before going for one of the larger mounds of dirt. As he rides over this and the bike leaves the ground, Skull lets go of the handle bars, leans backwards and pulls the bike into a backwards roll, making it upright again in time to land back on the ground.

Next he drives around the stadium once before riding up onto a raised platform a few metres off the ground. Once up here, he brings the bike into a wheelie, leaning so far back that the two wheels are almost in vertical alignment. Whilst the bike was still in this position, Skull jumps and places one foot on the seat and the other on the back of the bike, effectively standing up as the bike was moving onwards on only one wheel. Skull jumps again, careful not to move forcefully enough to bring the bike back down onto two wheels, and this time, whilst his bum is on the seat, he kicks his legs out to the sides creating a v shape. Now nearing the end of the platform, Skull returns the bike onto both wheels before seamlessly rolling forwards to perform a wheelie on the front wheel instead. With his legs now above his head, Skull lets go of the bike with his legs, heaves forwards on his arms and performs a handstand, balancing only on the handle bars. Returning his legs back into the correct seating position, he proceeds to go down the steep ramp still in this head first position, one that could easily over balance and send him tumbling down the ramp.

However, Skull doesn't and returns to the ground in perfect health.

"Are you ready?" he asks Tsunayoshi.

"How can you even talk to me in that position?" the child asks instead. He knew from experience that being upside down like that for that length of time meant all the blood rushed to your head and it didn't feel good. Skull however just laughs it off. "Yeah, I'm ready." Tsunayoshi reports.

He then speeds up and drives around to one of the taller hills in the stadium. Driving up this one, he makes a perfect take off. He pulls the bike into a forwards roll before lifting his hands off the handle bars and plucking Tsunayoshi off of the platform the child had been sat on since the start of the show. With the child sat infront of him, Skull places one arm around him before performing another forward roll and landing back onto the hill on the other side of the jump.

"Feel sick?" Skull asks, but Tsunayoshi replies by saying he isn't. Whilst circling around the stadium and taking in the praise the audience is giving off, Skull attaches the hook of his harness to the back of Tsunayoshi's harness. He had learnt from their trip to the beach a while ago that Tsunayoshi had a habit of not holding on. Skull couldn't have mistakes like that this time, so instead he had harnessed the child to himself. Having Tsunayoshi infront of him allowed more freedom of movement for the both of them. Tsunayoshi could put his hands in the air and still not fall of the bike, and Skull could still lift his feet off of the footholds.

"Ne, Skull," says Tsunayoshi, a hint of wistfulness in his voice, "Can we go flying?"

A grin crawls across Skulls face and with a whoop of excitement, he fulfils Tsunayoshi's wish. Going back over the same jump they had just done, Skull this time includes Tsunayoshi in the tricks. Whilst in mid-air, the pair lets go of the handlebars and, at Skull's prompting, does the movements for the YMCA song. They land on the ground and Skull drifts them back around to do the jump from the opposite direction. This time, whilst in the air, Skull places one hand around Tsunayoshi's waist as the pair go into a handstand and Skull spins the bike around on a horizontal axis. Sure it was harder with one hand, but he was the first stuntman to do tricks with a partner like this. And Tsunayoshi was worth the extra effort. He didn't think the boy had stopped shouting down the communication line since they had started.

Finally they move onto the tallest of the hills in the arena. Shooting up into the air, Skull lets go of the bike completely, curling up around Tsunayoshi who had done the same thing. With the pair spinning in one direction and the bike flipping in the other, the crowd watch on in silent amazement. Skull straightens up and almost misses getting back on the bike. Luckily enough he manages to get a foothold on part of the bike and drag it closer to him, sitting down a lot further back than usual. As such, Tsunayoshi ended up sitting more on Skull's stomach and legs than back on the bike. As the jolt of the bike returning to earth happens, Skull places them back in the correct position.

He returns to centre stage and the pair wave at the audience. Skull then proceeds to do a few more doughnuts, the dust getting thicker and thicker until he can't be seen anymore. When the dust finally clears, Skull, Tsunayoshi and the bike are nowhere to be seen. The crowd gasps in amazement before the lights pan left and highlight the pair, sitting astride the bike on top of the commentators' box. The pair strike a hellfire pose before Tsunayoshi shouts another of Skull's catchphrases "And the Reaper Rejects once again!" The crowd go wild, shouting and applauding. Skull revs the engine once more before shooting off the top of the box, down the stairs of the stand, past his adoring audience, back into the arena before pulling one more small flip with Tsunayoshi and driving out of the exit.

As the pair stop, Skull unclips the harness and steps off the bike, removing his helmet in the process. Tsunayoshi stays sitting on the bike. Removing his helmet and revealing his largest and brightest smile, Tsunayoshi says, "Now that was flying." Skull couldn't agree more.

* * *

><p>Bermuda walks back into the Arcobaleno house after his day at work and finds Tsunayoshi sitting on the sofa, alone. The boy was burning a hole into the carpet with his eyes, arms crossed and a pout on his face.<p>

"What has upset you Tsunayoshi?" asks Bermuda, sitting down next to the child.

"Verde doesn't believe me when I told him that planes don't fly, they drive in the air." Tsunayoshi mumbles, still glaring at the carpet. Bermuda chuckles and tries to guess what the child meant by this. From the back of the house comes some screams, Skull's, some gun shots, Reborn's, and a few shouts.

"NOOO! Luce, my chain isn't there for you to hang bunny charms off of!"

"Oi, what's that one? Hey! The Immortal Skull doesn't wear flower charms either."

"Luce… Luce! I'm sorry, put The Bag away!... No Don't pick up the frying pan instead! Luce!"

"Yahhh! Reborn, don't shoot me! It… was… an accident… I swear!"

"Ouch, Lal you're heavy, get off me! My arm doesn't bend that waayyy."

"Who are you calling Heavy, kora!"

"I'm sorry! Lal, you're as light as a feather, now let go of my arm before you dislocate it!"

"Lal, please get off, Verde's got that look in his eye. Oi Lal, Verde's got a needle. Any time now Lal. Any TIME!"

"Please Fon, you're nice aren't you? Put the Gyoza bun down."

Viper walks in and shuts the door behind her, muffling out the sounds Skull was making.

"Do I want to know what's happening there?" asks Bermuda.

"Skull nearly dropped Tsunayoshi during one of his stunts," She casually replies.

Bermuda looks towards Tsunayoshi who keeps on glaring at the carpet. "Skull's immortal, he'll be fine. The important thing is is that Verde still doesn't believe me." There was some truth in this Bermuda supposed. According to the Vongola's Flame Theory, Skull was a Cloud Flame, and that had the ability of propagation. For Skull, any damaged done was repaired by the cells propagating, or multiplying to replace the damaged or missing cells.

Bermuda lets the child mumble and rant on to himself, and looks up at Viper. "You're not joining in?" he asks.

"Oh, I am," Viper replies, a malicious yet mischievous grin on her face. "Skull won't be sleeping very well tonight. He'll be too scared to fall asleep for the next week." Bermuda gives an approving nod.

"I don't think anyone will be cooking tonight," Bermuda comments, a scream making its way through the wall. "Shall we order sushi?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked it!<strong>

**Do you think Amano-sensei wants to shock us to death? I hope the latest revelation doesn't affect your stories too much. It was rather shocking though, I must admit. It makes you think back to that time during the Future arc… Fon and I-pin aren't going to be happy.**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 04 October 2012**

_Whilst a Stunt man tries their hardest, a day with Skull, part of the stunt show._


	43. Or A Jailer Does It With Superiority

Chapter 43:

Or A Jailer Does It With Superiority

**This is going to be one of the more controversial chapters of this arc. When I first planed this arc, it was when Tsunayoshi was a ****baby****. But now he's not, and that difference means a lot for the theme of this chapter. Especially with Tsunayoshi being in the age range of 4-6 at the moment (roughly). So please bare that in mind when reading this chapter and Reborn's (which is at the end guys!).**

* * *

><p>Bermuda and the abilities of his unique Flame gave new meaning to the term <em>Fast Food.<em> Warping directly to the restaurant and back meant that Tsunayoshi had his meal quicker than a waiter could have handed it to him at the restaurant. Viper too was privy to this luxury. The others… well they were _busy_ at the moment. At least there would be food waiting for them after a job well done. From the sounds of things Bermuda and the Vindice couldn't have done a better job themselves.

And sure, Tsunayoshi was happy with the meal, not having had any sushi since his last meeting with Takeshi months back, but Bermuda knew better than that. Little boys were not good at hiding their feelings, and Bermuda made his living off of reading people. He saw that Viper too had her eye on the child. Every scream making its way through the walls caused a harsher bite. Every yelp made the chopsticks twitch. So no matter how much the boy seemed to be pouting over Verde not believing him, it was clear to the pair that Skull was most definitely on his mind.

But as heart breaking as it was to watch Tsunayoshi like this, Bermuda was certainly not going into that room. He had never had a meeting with the demonic accessory Luce bore, and he didn't plan on having a meeting either. And sure, he was Bermuda Von Veckenschtein, current Boss of the Mafia-wide feared Vindice and owner of the inescapable Vendicare Prison, but even he wouldn't want to face off against 6 of the World's Strongest People at once when they were being overprotective- he'd done that once already, and once was one time too many. That was like walking into a mafia den in full regalia and announcing "I am a police man!". You'd be dead in an instant.

So once they were finished eating, Bermuda did the next best thing. Leaving a note behind, Bermuda went upstairs and packed a bag before grabbing Natsu and returning downstairs. He takes Tsunayoshi's hand and leads him into the center of the living room carpet. Turning to face Viper, Bermuda bows. "And to you fair lady, we bid you adieu." Tsunayoshi giggles and bows at Viper too, before the pair step into the materialized black hole.

They step out into pitch blackness. Bermuda claps his hands before commanding "**Order:** **Lights**." One by one the candelabras in the hallway light up, casting the corridor in a soft glow, enough for them to find their way around easily. Almost immediately, making Tsunayoshi jump, there is a cloaked and top hatted man kneeling infront of Bermuda.

"Bermuda-sama, you have returned." Says Jager, still looking at the floor.

"**Indeed. You may rise."** Jager nods and stands up, before directing his gaze towards Tsunayoshi. "**He will be staying the night here and accompanying us tomorrow**."

"As you wish Bermuda-sama. Shall I prepare a room for him?" Jager bows slightly in answer to the order.

Bermuda shakes his head to the question. "**Negative. He shall sleep in my room tonight."** Tsunayoshi got the feeling that Jager raised an eyebrow at that statement, but the brim of the top hat and the covering bandages made it kind of hard to see the action.

Bermuda liked this guy, to Tsunayoshi that was clear. Even if he was talking in that rather scary Boss tone like when Tsunayoshi had first entered the Vendicare House, there was still a hint of respect and a softer undertone. Stepping forwards, Tsunayoshi squeezes Natsu tightly for support before smiling at the man before him. "Hello, My name is Tsunayoshi!"

_Wow, that was bright,_ thought Jager, wishing for a pair of sunglasses. A smile like that was not something the Vindice saw that often. No one smiles at all when they were around considering they dealt with maniacs and people even mafia criminals deemed unsafe. As such, the other eyebrow rises in Bermuda's direction. He had left them for _this? _Bermuda spent everyday living with this fluffy, sugary, puffball, instead of them? Really, what was the world coming to?!

Uh-oh, he'd better respond quickly, Bermuda-sama was giving him that look. How could this child even stand in the aura created from that look? Jager quickly crouches down infront of the boy. "Nice to meet you too Tsunayoshi. My name is Jager and I work for Bermuda." Phew, crisis averted. Bermuda could get scary at times.

Tsunayoshi looks Jager over since this was the first time they'd properly met. The last time he had met any of the Vindice other than Bermuda was the first time he entered this house, with their dramatic entrance and them trying to kill him with their chains. Not the best first impression to be honest, but then again they were the Mafia Jailers and had a reputation to uphold. It's not like they were going to welcome him with tea and biscuits that first time now was it. In general he's dressed up like Bermuda, in a top hat, bandages covering his face, hands, neck and any other parts where skin would have been showing. He also has a cloak on too, but unlike Bermuda's the collar was not made up of purple feathers but instead of a white fur. It looked really fluffy and soft.

Tsunayoshi fiddles with Natsu in his hands before looking up and asking, "Can I touch the fluffy bit?"

Err… maybe no? He quite liked his personal space thank you. He wasn't some animal at a petting zoo. Buuut, maybe that should be a yes. Anything to get Bermuda's glare to stop boring a hole through his back. "Sure." Jager complies. "It's made out of the tail of an artic fo-" Oh holy heaven wrong thing to say! He could feel it, Bermuda was going to kill him! He'd just told a kid that he wore actual fur. "Ahh, it looks like a fox tail right?"

Tsunayoshi reaches forwards and strokes the fur- it was softer than he imagined! And so white too. Tsunayoshi misses Jager's slip up and nods as he steps backwards "Yeah it does!" He turns to face Bermuda, a frown on his face, "Is something wrong Bermuda?" Bermuda felt kind of angry to him. Tsunayoshi wondered what had caused it, was he not supposed to touch?

Tsunayoshi looks down at the floor, chin tight to his chest, Natsu covering his face. In a quiet voice he carefully asks, "Are you mad with Skull too?"

Ah! Bermuda knew it. Tsunayoshi was worried about Skull. "No I am not, or else I'd be a hypocrite" he adds that last bit in under his breath so Tsunayoshi doesn't hear him. But he had brought Tsunayoshi here to be away from that and to stop the boy fretting. He needed a distraction and quick. "Come on Tsunayoshi." He quickly picks the child up and holds him against his shoulder before striding down the corridor.

Bermuda didn't know what the Arcobaleno's problem was. Skull had taken every precaution possible to keep Tsunayoshi safe, even using the harnesses. Bermuda would have gotten mad if Skull hadn't done any of those things nor tried to protect Tsunayoshi when things went wrong. But Skull had done, so he had no problem. Although maybe he could call Reborn a hypocrite if he planned to do what Bermuda thought he was going to.

He carries Tsunayoshi into a room filled with a long table. Chains were hanging around the room almost like party streamers, the curtains were black and ripped, the chairs were made out of mahogany with dark red fabric. He sits down at the larger chair at the far end of the room before placing Tsunayoshi on his lap. This time Jager just shakes his head. He knew that Bermuda could be childish at times, but really.

"**I order thee to assemble." **Bermuda commands. Tsunayoshi had learnt that Bermuda liked to speak in an old fashioned way at times, usually when either being cheeky, ordering people about or when he was super super angry. Apparently thee meant you. Tsunayoshi had been told off repeatedly for using it out of context. Seemingly his cute image didn't allow him to use these turns of speech.

In the space of a blink there was suddenly someone else sat at the tale. " So who it is now Bermuda-sama? My dolls are getting rusty, who needs killing no- Ouch!" Alejandro holds his cheek where Bermuda had slapped him with his chains, quickly followed by a slap to the other cheek by Jager's chains. He looks over to his Boss and suddenly sees the addition to the table. "Eh, wasn't this the brat that came a few months back? What's he doin' here? Are we holdin' him ransom? Or are we just going to get rid of him as an example?"

Jager's hand twitches as he resisted the urge to face-palm. How stupid could Alejandro get? Jager walks down around the table and places a hand on Alejandro's shoulder before leaning down to whisper, "That's the Tsunayoshi that Bermuda-sama keeps on talking about." Under the bandages Alejandro's eyes widen. How far could he short warp again? Was it possible to reach the moon and hide from Bermuda's wrath? No, he didn't have enough Flames left. Bermuda wouldn't leave him Flames-less as punishment would he? That was just the kind of childish torture Bermuda would partake in, and he would know, being the second oldest Vindice.

Tsunayoshi looks up at Bermuda, eyes wide. "Should I not be here? Do I need to leave?" he asks confused. He didn't quite get what this new person was talking about.

Bermuda shakes his head, "No Tsunayoshi, he was just talking about a mission. We'll talk about it later." Alejandro didn't like the sound of that. But at least having the child here meant that Bermuda wouldn't do anything too horrifying right now.

Soon after the main group of the Vindice appear and all sit around the table. Tsunayoshi looks around and notices that all of their collars are different. However all were bandaged and wearing cloaks and top hats. Bermuda tugs on Tsunayoshi, forcing the boy to sit directly forwards, Tsunayoshi's back against his chest before placing his chin on Tsunayoshi's shoulder to rest. An extremely clear sign to all of the Vindice present that Tsunayoshi was his and not to be messed with. The Vindice all gulp at once, getting the message loud and clear.

Tsunayoshi smiles and leans his head slightly, enough to rest his cheek against Bermuda's own. These people felt kind of scary, but he was sure that Bermuda would look after him, plus he was getting a hug and who didn't like hugs? The Vindice watching wanted to drop their jaws at the display. This was not a suggested action for people like them. For some, their jaws might literally fall off and that wouldn't be good, and for others, like Jager, their lips were sewn together so his jaw could only drop far enough for him to speak. Did this little boy have no fear at all! There the little boy was, snuggling up to the most feared person in the Mafia like a cat! They were sure that the answer was simple: this boy was mentally insane. Insane, stupid, idiotic, having a death wish, take your pick for no one in their right mind touched Bermuda so familiarly without ending up dead, not even them.

"Tsunayoshi, I want you to meet the other members of the Vindice." Bermuda says, lifting a hand up from his hug to point to the others.

"And Bermuda's Family is Tsunayoshi's Family!" the little boy sings. The Vindice were Bermuda's family before Tsunayoshi ever came into the picture. They were important to Bermuda so they were important to Tsunayoshi, as simple as that.

This little boy was going to be the death of the Vindice. He was so sweet and sugary that he was going to rot their already rotting bodies and kill them. Imagine that: Vindice killed by small child. The mafia headlines would love that news.

Bermuda smiles behind his bandages at that, watching how his team members were affected by the child. If they thought that was bad, try living with the cuite. Coughing into his hand, Bermuda draws them all back to reality. "Tsunayoshi, you've already met Jager, my right hand man, and Alejandro. The others are Jaque, Junk, Small Gia and Big Pino." The others all nod or wave and give a small greeting in reply except Big Pino who just goes 'pipipupupi' instead.

Tsunayoshi says hi to them all back before conversations turn to other things. Eventually, Tsunayoshi starts yawning. He moves in Bermuda's grip, this time sitting sidewards with his right side pressed against Bermuda. With his head resting against Bermuda's shoulder, Tsunayoshi falls asleep.

"Geez Boss, you could have warned us you were bringing him. We all had to get changed pretty quick. I don't think he'd like to see the true us." Comments Jaque.

"I agree, we're scary enough as it is. I'd hate for this little one to hate us." Agrees Junk, being the only female there.

Bermuda thinks about this for a moment before gently lifting Tsunayoshi without moving the child too much. "You know, I don't think he'd actually mind that much. He has this innocence that transcends childish ignorance. He is very accepting of everything he sees, especially considering the diverse family we have." No one missed the _we _of that sentence.

"He reminds me of our Sky." Says Small Gia, talking for both him and Big Pino.

"And mine," agree the others one at a time.

Bermuda smiles and stops inside the door frame. "I think he's going to be the greatest, most harmonious Sky that ever existed." The atmosphere suddenly turns cold and the Vindice get excited. They loved this side of their Boss. This was the Boss they were all used too. "And I'm not going to let him become tainted. I'll get my revenge before those monochrome hands can even touch him."

The Vindice couldn't agree more.

* * *

><p>After eating a breakfast of cereal and milk, Bermuda takes Tsunayoshi back to his room to get changed. He puts Tsunayoshi into black jeans and a black top.<p>

"Ne, Bermuda…" asks Tsunayoshi, nervously fiddling with his fingers. "Can I... have a hat too?" asks Tsunayoshi quietly. He knew that those hats were for the Vindice only, but he really wanted one. Then he'd be allowed to copy Bermuda's old fashioned words! Tsunayoshi swears that Bermuda disappears for a second, a second and third image created by the movement, for suddenly Bermuda's in a different position and there is a hat on his hand. This hat is the same shape as the others, with only one difference. Instead of the ripped white bandage, this one is a muted orange. Bermuda places it on his head as Tsunayoshi bounced up and down in front of him in excitement.

"Hmm, one more touch." Thinks Bermuda out loud. He plucks one of the purple feathers from his coat and places it in the bandage banner of the hat. There, now it was perfect and almost an exact replica of his own hat. Finally there is one more thing he needs to give Tsunayoshi. Reaching under his cloak he pulls out a Japanese mask depicting a Kitsune. "I need you to wear this Tsunayoshi, and once we leave this house you are not to take it off, understand?" His tone was strict and Tsunayoshi reacts to it. Instead of getting enthusiastic over the cool looking accessory, he nods and takes it in a serious manor.

Just like Skull did, Bermuda was going to take every precaution he could to keep Tsunayoshi safe. This mask was to keep Tsunayoshi's identity a mystery. The plain cloths, a black to match his cloak, would hide Tsunayoshi from sight whilst the hat would hide his distinct hair style. There were not going to be any repercussions.

He goes back to the entrance hall of the house to meet back up with the people who were coming today. He was going to take Jager, the strongest after him, along with Alejandro who had the most experience, with him as another layer of protection. Not that anything would go wrong. This Family didn't even have Flame control and bullets were useless against their numb bodies and unbeating hearts.

A warp hole is opened by Bermuda before them (Tsunayoshi never even considered how this was done, knowing nothing of space or transportation. All he knew was that it looked cool and was rather useful), but instead of entering they wait for a few seconds. Slowly, mist builds up in the room, streaming out of the warp hole.

"Bermuda-sama loves his dramatic entrances." Comments Jager to Tsunayoshi. The mist always accompanied the Vindice wherever they went due to this warp hole transportation. The warp hole itself took one through space, hence why for normal humans, one's breath had to be held. In addition, Space was very cold, and the cold emanating from the hole caused the water droplets in the room to freeze or turn into mist. It certainly saved money on buying a smoke machine. Once the mist was thick enough on their side, the Vindice knew it would be thick enough of the other side too. Bermuda picked Tsunayoshi up and walked towards the warp hole.

"Prepare yourself Tsunayoshi. This is my daily life and it isn't pretty. Like I said to you when we first met, I am ruthless and unforgiving. Rules are set and must be abided by, punishments must be given to rule breakers."

"Like Luce's Bag." Whispers Tsunayoshi. "Don't worry Bermuda. I'll be fine. If I get scared then I'll just remember that you are everyone's knight and you do what you do to protect us. Naughty people need to be smacked, right?"

The Vindice in the room laugh out loud now that the pair have stepped through the portal. Them, Knights? What kind of Knight had revenge as their only motivation? An evil fallen Black Knight, that was who. They didn't wear black because they liked it, but because it reminded them of who they were.

* * *

><p>"Quick everyone, it's the Vindice!" As Tsunayoshi is carried through the warp hole, that is the first thing he hears.<p>

"**You have made an unviable error in your ways Regano Famiglia. It is inexcusable to attack civilians like you have. You should know how to conduct yourselves by now."** Bermuda intones, voice deep and fear inducing. Already a few men in the room have frozen in their tracks, others are slowly edging their way towards the door.

"We are well within our right!" shouts the Boss.

"**Terrorism in not a condoned Mafia Act. The Vindice are generally lenient in what deplorable activities we allow, yet you took things too far.**"

"We can do whatever the hell we want to, that's why we became Mafioso in the first place. So deal with it!" The Boss becomes more and more brave as he slowly gets the backing of his men. Their fear of Bermuda is slightly being overridden by their will to keep their freedom. Like animals pinned into a corner, they will still fight the losing battle for what they want. Honorable, possibly, but certainly not for the freedom of the acts they were doing.

One man brings up a gun, his hands quivering uncontrollably. He twitches as fear controls his body and the gun goes off. One chain immediately knocks the bullet out of the air, ricocheting off the metal and into the wall across the other side of the room. But like a starting gun, it seems to be the signal for the resistance to begin. Most people were smart enough to know not to fight the Vindice, but there were some fools who seemed to have the world's share of idiocy and courage- a horrible death magnet combination-and fought back. But then again that made things interesting. The Mafia World was a source of endless entertainment.

"**Fighting back proves your guilt," **Bermuda explains, standing inside a circle of calm in the hectic room,** "Your sentences shall be extended for resisting." **Even though he had mentioned guilt, the Vindice were not people to give a trail, fair or not. Since they only acted in extreme cases, or ones in which they were invited to, there was no need for a trial.

"**We are the Vindice and our word is Law!" **Says Jager and Alejandro before sweeping their chains to deflect the rain of bullets coming towards them. Bermuda didn't even move, he just stood there keeping ahold of Tsunayoshi.

Some men threw knives, others shot bullets. Some extremely stupid ones went for hand to hand combat, equipping themselves with brass knuckles. A couple even came at the Vindice with Tasers crackling in their grasp. Yet not one attack got through. No one made the Vindice even move a step. The Vindice merely stood there, looking bored and ambiguous in their bandages, their chains moving around the room as if possessed or on strings. Too bad no one was watching the fight- either having run away or participating- or else they would have seen the beauty in the way the Vindice's chains moved. Each movement was graceful, dangerous and to the point, never an unneeded flick or lengthened route to the target.

Yet one little boy was watching, entranced and amazed by the movements. "So pretty," the boy whispers. Bermuda smiles. Only Tsunayoshi would ever find beauty in the dreaded Vindice, only he would find splendor in a fight.

Bermuda keeps an eye on the fight the whole time, watching the building of adrenaline and the rise of determination and craziness in the eyes of the judged. He waits and waits until one crucial moment before…

_SHING_

The whole room freezes right at the climax of the fight. Bermuda's chain is wrapped around the throat of the leader, raising him off the ground.

"Spoilsport." mutters Alejandro. This was yet another of Bermuda's quirks, hogging the spot light. Must come from his noble heritage.

"**Payment will be made and the rule breakers punished,"** Bermuda announces into the silence. **"We shall spare the others, but you had best not repeat the mistakes you have made. Next time, the Regano Famiglia shall be no more."** At the end of this sentence, the other two Vindice Officers shoot out their chains, encircling them around the necks of the people who had planned and executed this act of terrorism. Even if they aren't in the room the chains hunt them down and trap them. There is no escape.

One by one the trapped and judged are dragged to lay infront of Bermuda. Everyone else has backed away in fear, knowing that they have lost and not wanting punishment.

With everyone collected Bermuda opens a warp hole in the floor behind him, invisible to the eyes of everyone else. As the mist starts pouring out and shrouding them and the prisoners, Bermuda whispers into the silence, "**We are the Vindice... And our word is Law."** before disappearing from sight.

* * *

><p>Once back at the Vendicare, he hands the Boss over to one of his subordinates. "You know what to do Jager. I think there's still some room in the European Water Prison. Minds like theirs should not be allowed to walk this earth if that is what they use it for." Jager nods before he and a few others disappear with their captives.<p>

Whilst the house at the end of Mafia Row was known as the Vendicare, or the Vindice House, it was purely a house and not the prison itself. Instead, the prisons were located around the world, in the most dangerous and inescapable places they could find. It would be pointless having it here on Mafia Row. If everyone knew where the prisons were then there would be endless rescue attempts.

Tsunayoshi takes off the mask before giggling. Bermuda looks over towards the laughing child and questions him. "Well," Tsunayoshi gasps. "You reminded me of Reborn. Both of you love the spotlight and making the most spectacular entrance possible. Reborn does it at home sometimes, timing his entrance or shooting a gun at the most intense time."

"Hehehe, That's Bermuda-sama for you," laughs Small Gia, tongue lolling about as always through the bandages. "Always stealing our thunder. I swear we're just here to make him look good."

"Bermuda was awesome!" compliments Tsunayoshi, looking up at Bermuda with wide eyes. "He stopped the bad men with only one move! Who else could do that?" Bermuda preened under the praise.

"Lets go home Tsunayoshi. I do believe that Fon is cooking Chinese tonight." Bermuda decided, lifting the boy up before going to gather up his belongings.

Once Bermuda has left the room, Small Gia stomps his foot. "Ah geez, Chinese? Do you know how long it's been since I ate one of those? Since before our last day of the representative battle that's when. Our Sky felt like it was going to be the end next day so she took us all out for a meal. Sure for a final meal we could have gone to a fancy Italian or French place, but really, what beats a Chinese takeaway?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Extra:<strong>_

Luce was in the kitchen early that morning, humming to herself as she started on breakfast preparations, as well as creating boxed lunches for her and Aria.

She goes and turns towards the fridge to get some butter for the frying pan, but screams at what she sees.

For there was this phantom bandaged zombie hand appearing out of nowhere, opening the fridge and reaching for the bottle of milk there. It grabs the milk before disappearing and returning moments later. The hand then moves towards a counter cupboard and opens it, only to steal the cereal. Again, after disappearing, the box is returned to its correct place.

Then the hand disappears altogether.

What? It wasn't Bermuda's fault that the Vendicare didn't have any food.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all liked it! The Vindice was interesting to write about. <strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 07 October 2012**

_Or a Jailer with superiority- Bermuda takes Tsunayoshi to watch over the capturing of a criminal- nothing too brutal. _


	44. Soldiers keep on going

Chapter 44:

Soldiers keep on going.

**I'm sorry for not replying to your reviews from the past two chapters, but there's just so many that arrive whilst I sleep that I couldn't find the time to reply to them during the day. Please forgive me!**

**Oh, and did I mention I love you guys. I want to thank all of you who keep on reviewing, it really means a lot and makes me smile all day. I get these reviews in class and giggle and people look at me weirdly, it's hilarious. **

**I'm glad you all liked my version of Bermuda and the Vindice. And now here's a first for Mafia row…**

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><p>Bermuda opens the front door of the Arcobaleno House, takes one step inside, turns on his heels, cloak flaring about at the spin, before quickly striding in the opposite direction. He was trying to get down the garden path as quickly as possible. He had to get back to those gates, back to the Vendicare and survival. Yes, <strong>survival<strong>.

"Hmm, Bermuda? We aren't going home?" asks Tsunayoshi, having watched Bermuda and was now following him like a duckling.

Bermuda shakes his head, sweat dripping down his forehead and being absorbed by the bandages. He'd have to change them after this was all done with. He sure hoped that sweat would be all that stained these bandages.

"Nah, let's come back tomorrow Tsunayoshi." Says Bermuda, almost running down the path way. But nobles didn't run anywhere, they just stride intimidatingly.

Sadly Bermuda didn't make it very far down the Garden Path.

"Na-ah-ah~. You're not going anywhere"

He could short warp out of here, but that would make Tsunayoshi sick and he didn't want to be in even more trouble. He didn't want to leave the boy here to the wrath of the Arcobaleno either. Ah! A portal! That was the answer.

**Bang.**

Nope, no portal then. Bermuda turns around to meet his doom: Some very unhappy Arcobaleno.

"Bermuda, darling," No not 'darling'.

But what had he done wrong? He'd left a note and everything. It was on Luce's Noticeboard that he was taking Tsunayoshi today to meet the Vindice. It had been on there for weeks! Talking of pinboards, Bermuda had taken a picture of the doodle of him Tsunayoshi had done on his smart phone. It was now his wallpaper.

"Be ready to Pay Bermuda." Says Viper, sitting down on a window sill and getting comfy. Maybe she should have brought some popcorn?

"Pay? May I enquire what for?" Bermuda asks, slowly stepping backwards. Away from them. Closer to freedom. Away from the death of his pride.

"What for?" asks Colonnello unbelievingly. "For scaring the life out of Luce, kora!"

The Arcobaleno nod, even Verde and Lal. Even Fon didn't look happy.

Oh cursed heavens this wasn't good. The Arcobaleno were almost as protective of Luce as they were of Tsunayoshi. And that was a whole lot. Princess Luce de Giglio Nero was not a woman to be messed with, even before she formed the Arcobaleno.

At some kind of signal that Bermuda didn't notice, even though he was watching them like a hawk, the Arcobaleno move at once and disappear. As soon as he realises this he grabs Tsunayoshi and holds his up like a shield. They wouldn't attack their own (collective) son now would they? What was he talking about, they already do. Still he'd do anything to keep his pride intact.

The first to reappear is Fon on his right side. Bermuda side steps but can't defend himself whilst holding onto Tsunayoshi. The extra weight made him slower too. Fon comes in, arm like a snake, pinching a nerve in his upper arm. Suddenly Bermuda couldn't feel his arm and almost dropped Tsunayoshi. Why couldn't he be like the other Vindice! A nerveless body would be good right now!

"Um guys, what's going on?" asks Tsunayoshi. Why were the Arcobaleno mad at Bermuda? What had he done wrong? Scaring Luce, when had he done that?

Fon spins, going to pinch the other arm, but Bermuda steps backwards, so Fon removes the precious cargo from the Jailer instead.

"Bermuda gave Luce a scare this morning so we're just telling him off. You know that Bermuda's just playing along." Smiles Fon as he placed the boy next to Viper. Viper wasn't involved since she was the weakest against Bermuda. Illusions didn't work on him, and she had the physical fighting capability of a pillow. Tsunayoshi turns and re-evaluates the scene. What Fon had said was true, none of them were trying very hard to win this fight. Indeed it looked more like… a play fight! Oh, the Arcobaleno had play fights all of the time. Plus Luce had something special out. There was nothing to worry about then. They were just having fun.

Bermuda though was not having fun. He prided himself on his reputation and it was not being tarnished by **cereal and milk** of all things! It wasn't like he'd peeked on her in the shower or anything worse.

La was lying down ontop of the wall surrounding the Arcobaleno house. It had been designed to be this thick just for this purpose. Parts of the roof were also flat for her to be able to lie on. She carefully takes aim through the scope, watching as Fon takes Tsunayoshi from Bermuda. As soon as the pair were out of her sights she fires. Bermuda jumps backwards, the bullet just missing.

"Special round!" Viper shouts up. "I'll be nice and give you 50 bullets each to work with!" Wow, Viper was being nice, it was usually more like 5. Viper, being Viper, didn't want to waste money so set limits on the number of bullets used per fight. Lal didn't mind, it was just another training exercise for her and her useless student.

Bermuda had never heard of this special round before. But by the sounds of it, it was a limitation, so he didn't mind it. He jumps backwards to dodge another bullet coming from his left, however just as he lands, he feels something press against his back. He spins around, looking over his shoulder, but he doesn't see anything, nor anyone nearby.

"Usual Payment Plan, right Viper?" shouts Colonnello from his position in a tree. Viper shouts out an affirmative. Colonnello loved these rules, they were so fun. So taking out 10 bullets from his stash, he throws them like darts towards her, all collected by Fon and placed in a neat pile before her. From his back, Colonnello gets out his missile launcher and loads a shell. 10 bullets equaled one bazooka shell, as simple as that. Lal sighs at her student's antics. He was always like this. Boys always wanted things to be bigger didn't they? Since she knew what he was going to do, and the best position for it, she starts to shoot more bullets towards Bermuda, keeping him occupied.

Colonnello jumps out of the tree since it would only hinder him, before jumping on top of the small rooves above the windows, and then to the larger roof above the front door. From there he grabs hold of the next window ledge above him, pulls himself up before jumping to land on the roof over the centre piece window at the front of the house. He places the missile launcher down and gets into position, hefting it up onto his shoulder.

"Take this kora!" he shouts down before pulling the trigger.

The explosion is huge and loud.

[It could be heard all down Mafia Row. "Hn, the Arcobaleno are at it again." "Yeah, but I ain't telling them to quieten down, are you?" "Ha-h-ha-ah. Noise, what noise?"]

Bermuda had enough time to roll out of the way and cover his head with his arms before his world is consumed by dust. Again, there's another phantom touch, this time to his arm. He'd been getting them for a while now, always coming from behind him. It seemed as if Lal was leading him into these touches. He still hadn't figured out who was doing it.

"You idiot! Who shouts out 'take this!'. When did I ever teach you that? You buffle brained, egocentric, peacock-headed jester. If you ever do that again I'll remove your head before the enemy can!" Lal shouts out, throwing a knife at him.

Colonnello catches the knife before giving a pout to Lal. "Aww, ruin my fun. If a man can't shout out that, then what point is there in launching a missile!"

"I thought it was cool!" shouts out Skull from his hiding place.

"We don't care what you think!" Lal retorts, followed by a snicker from Reborn.

"OI!" shouts Tsunayoshi, crossing his arms and stomping his foot. That wasn't nice to Skull.

Meanwhile, in the dust cloud, Bermuda was sure that someone was in here with him. He never saw any shadows, but he kept getting a draft, which means someone was pulling on his cloak.

"Targeting… Two heat sources detected. Now one. Now two." Verde looks through his special goggles before lowering them. "For heaven's sake stop moving!" Verde raises the goggles back up. "Locking… target acquired. Distance… 2.759 metres. Time until impact… 4.927 seconds. Direction, north north east by 20 degrees."

"Huh?" asks Skull, staring blankly at Verde. Verde lowers his goggles and grits his teeth. This was why he liked working alone, less stupid people that way. He stomps over to Skull (which Tsunayoshi finds funny to watch, Verde had perfected the annoyed stomp) stands behind him and grabs his shoulders before forcefully turning Skull to 10 O'clock.

"Run you idiot." Verde growls before stepping backwards. "Even you can run in a straight line."

"Damn straight I can!" says Skull, rotating his shoulders to free them up. He takes a ridiculous running pose before shouting. "For. The. ARCOOOoOOooOoooo…ooo…"

Colonnello bursts out laughing, nearly falling off the roof in the process. "What a fail Skull! You can't fit the word Arcobaleno into the word Sparta. Plus it's 'This is Sparta' not 'For the Sparta'."

"Hn, the idiot can't even shout out properly." Comments Reborn, lounging in a tree on the opposite side of the garden, near Lal's position. "Get running stupid." Before Skull can make a retort, Reborn shoots a gun near his feet. Skull jumps before starting to run into the cloud of dust.

He runs as fast as he can and crashes like a freight train into Bermuda, knocking them down onto the floor in the process. Bermuda gasps as his back impacts the floor and tries to dislodge Skull. However something strange is going on for it feels like Skull's suddenly got more than one pair of arms. There are so many pulls and touches, but it's hard to tell whether they are all from their grapple on the floor or not.

Somewhere in the distance the Countdown ticking theme starts. Skull is pulled off of Bermuda only to be replaced by harsh knees on his shoulders and a heavy weight on his stomach. Something like a lead weight weights his feet down so he can't kick back. It was easy to tell who was sitting on him now. The gun to the forehead made it clear.

"You do not mess with Luce, understand. You don't scare her, you don't injure her, you don't back chat her. Next time, people will only find a cloaks and a hat and the Vindice will need a new leader."

**Note to self:**** look before transporting body parts. **

Do-dodo-do DUN! The countdown finishes and Reborn gets off of Bermuda.

"I'm all done, guys, what do you think?" sings Luce, standing in the middle of the garden, hands clasped and resting on his shoulder with a bright smile on her face.

A strangely well timed gust of wind blows the dust away, revealing Bermuda.

You see the thing was, Luce was actually like a ninja when she was dealing with The Bag. When it came to dressing people up, or when an adorable outfit came on her radar, she could move faster than Reborn could.

Viper gets her super-secret mini camera out and snaps a picture of Bermuda. Now she finally had some blackmail on the guy.

For standing before them was not the feared leader of the Mafia's Prison. Oh no. Before them was standing a life sized teddy bear. His top hat suddenly had a red ribbon with a huge bow. She had painted over his bandages with brown paint to give him the right face. There was also a red bow around his neck too. On his hands were fluffy gloves and on his feet were fluffy paw shaped boots (she had put those on when Skull had toppled them over). All over his cloak was a dark brown fur, almost like cotton wool.

"Isn't he just the cutest?" squeals Luce, skipping over before giving Bermuda a huge hug.

NOOOO! She had gotten him with The Bag. His record had been flawless and now it was all ruined! The terrifying Leader of the Vendicare had been beaten by Cereal, Milk and a teddy bear costume. Oh the shame.

Tsunayoshi runs across the garden and flings himself at Bermuda. The Jailer has no other option but to catch him and lift him up. "Bermuda you look really good!" he smiles.

Can't… resist… the cute. Bermuda sighs. Now he knew why the strongest people in the world feared a woman and her handbag.

Bermuda pouts, actually pouts, before holding himself up straight. This was not how he acts. He's better than a child holding a tantrum. He should accept it with grace and maturity. Placing Tsunayoshi down, Bermuda walks forwards and down the garden path. Yet the fluffy boots aren't very supportive and he trips. Yeah, grace, sure. He stands back up and continues on as if nothing had happened. Just as he's walking in through the front door, Fon pats him on the back.

"Welcome to the Arcobaleno Bermuda."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Bermuda finds out the third reason that the Arcobaleno fear The Bag. That was coming after the humiliation itself, and then spending all night trying to undo what Luce had done. That cloak was never going to be the same again. The third reason is that the Arcobaleno aren't the nicest of people, nor do they let things down. At breakfast, Bermuda must have heard every teddy bear joke under the sun. The Arcobaleno didn't hold back their punches.<p>

The Bag, and all its consequences, was truly a thing to be feared.

Even Tsunayoshi joins in the mental bashing, although unwittingly. When he came down the stairs after breakfast, he was dressed up in his mini army gear. Which was fine. If he wasn't singing a certain song too.

_~Ciao Ciao Ciao. Cosplay Party Everyday! Everyday! Cosplay Party Yay! ~_

Hn, He had work to do anyway. He wasn't saying here a moment longer.

_What was that about no childish tantrums?_

Tsuna jumps down the last step and looks around. "Hm, Colonnello, where's Lal? I thought we were going together today?"

Colonnello turns around, a slice of toast hanging out of his mouth since he was trying to eat so much at once. "She went on ahead." He says. As Luce walks past, she bops him on the head.

"No eating with your mouth full." She admonishes. Colonnello ducks his head in an apology and quickly finishes the slice of toast.

He stands up and walks over to Tsunayoshi. "Ready to go little man?" he asks. Tsunayoshi nods in agreement. Colonnello kneels down and Tsunayoshi jumps onto his back. "Then off we go." Colonnello sings before running out of the house.

They run down half of Mafia Row and take turn onto Mafia Row Central, running past the Sasagawa Gym, past the sushi shop and up the hill and into the forest.

"Colonnello watch out." Warns Tsunayoshi.

"Haha, don't worry, already on it. Hold on tight." Instead of going around the trip wire, Colonnello jumps over it and continues on running.

Right into a pitfall trap.

Colonnello throws Tsunayoshi into the air and the little boy safely lands outside of the trap's radius. Hands now free, Colonnello can grab the side and plant his feet against the wall for stability. He quickly looks down into the hole and notices the sharp spikes there. This was another reason why no one stole from the CONSUBIN training grounds: They couldn't even get there safely. Colonnello pushes off with his feet and jumps out of the hole, landing next to Tsunayoshi.

"I tried to warn you." Tsunayoshi says, shaking his head. "The leaves were all wrong. You said you knew about it."

"I thought you meant the wire, kora!" complains Colonnello, letting Tsunayoshi jump back onto his back.

"Lal's not going to be happy," says Tsunayoshi sadly.

"Nah, we'll just miss the rest. She'll be pleased with that." Assures Colonnello.

They make it safely to the open training grounds, where all of the recruits and Lal are waiting.

"Not being adventurous today Colonnello?" shouts one of the trainees as Colonnello approaches.

"Did Lal finally knock some sense into you? I never thought I'd see the day when you'd stop doing suicide runs." Comments another.

"Of course not. And you'll never see that day for it won't come. I just had the kid with me that's all." Reminds Colonnello, defending himself. Colonnello had a habit of activating all of the traps. Not because he was stupid or blind, but to gain the experience to overcome them when they were triggered. It trained his reflexes and reaction times better.

Tsunayoshi walks over to one of the female recruits and hands her over a stick of bamboo. "I believe this is yours." He says with a smile as he places the dart into her hands. This woman liked to use poisoned darts, so she was the most likely suspect to have set that trap up.

"Thank you Sir." She says, giving Tsunayoshi a salute. Tsunayoshi just giggles before walking away. It was so funny when the adults called him sir and saluted to him. He liked it when they did that.

"LINE UP." Shouts Lal. The recruits quickly line up in front of her. Tsunayoshi decides he wants to stand in the middle next to Colonnello. He tries to copy their standing position as best as he can, legs apart, arms behind his back. Colonnello quickly adjusts Tsunayoshi's hands before ruffling his hair and returning to looking at Lal.

"You all know what day it is today!" she announces. There are groans of protest from the recruits in front of her.

"Do we have to?"

"There's no point to it anymore!"

"Yeah, Colonnello always wins."

They all quickly shut up at her bared teeth. But Lal's growl quickly changes to a wicked smirk. "Don't worry, I've evened out the odds. Colonnello will be taking Tsunayoshi with him."

The recruits look suspicious. That wasn't much of a disadvantage. It wasn't any different to carrying their backpacks really. In fact Colonnello looks pleased.

They all line up at the starting line. Lal holds up a gun into the air and fires it. Even though the recruits didn't sound too enthusiastic, this time they actually wanted to win. Secretly they all wanted to show off to Tsunayoshi. And they might actually have a chance this time. They all set off at a run, heading for the first obstacle of a pool of mud.

Just as Colonnello is about to jump in (him and Tsunayoshi loved getting muddy) Lal shouts out. "Colonnello, remember it's washing day today." An innocent remark sure, but it's like a death toll for Colonnello. He pales before grabbing Tsunayoshi off of his back. In mid jump he spins, holding Tsunayoshi in the air as his own back impacts the mud.

What Lal actually meant was don't get Tsunayoshi muddy. Or dirty in anyway. This Army outfit was made by Luce. And since it was washing day today, he wouldn't get time to clean it before she found it. He'd get murdered for any speck of mud on the little boy. Boy Lal was a mischievous devil! To do this course without getting Tsunayoshi dirty was nearly impossible. It really was going to slow him down. Someone else might win this time. He couldn't allow that.

"You hear that, kora?" asks Colonnello standing up whilst holding Tsunayoshi out of the mud. "We can't get you dirty at all or else Luce will get mad at us." Tsunayoshi nods gravely. This was quiet a situation. Colonnello places the boy on his shoulders, yet Tsunayoshi has to hold his feet out straight in front of him so his feet don't enter the mud.

As he climbs out, Colonnello finds a bottle of water and an umbrella just lying there. He takes the bottle of water and uses it to wash off as much of the mud from his chest as he can. That way Tsunayoshi can put his feet back down. He also washed off his hands so he can touch the boy again if he needs to. He has no clue about the umbrella though. Lal had never done that before.

The next obstacle is an easy one, having to climb up and over a brick wall. Now normally, he would put Tsunayoshi on his back and carry him over, but his back was currently one huge blob of mud, so that was out of the question.

"Hurry it up Colonnello, you're currently in last place." Reminds Lal, leaning against the wall.

"We can't lose Colonnello!" cries Tsunayoshi. Colonnello nods.

"Stand on my shoulders, how far can you reach?" the soldier asks. He steadies Tsunayoshi as the boy changes positions, using the wall as support too.

"I can reach the top Colonnello." Tsunayoshi reports back.

"Can you jump and sit on it, or at least half climb over it?" Colonnello asks back. His answer is in Tsunayoshi jumping up and not returning his weight back down. Tsunayoshi doesn't answer since he's half over one side and half over the other, with a very squished stomach knocking the breath out of him. Colonnello climbs over the wall as quickly as he can before encouraging Tsunayoshi to finish his climb over the wall and to jump down into Colonnello's hands.

The pair look to the side at the unusual sight of a drawer unit standing innocently at the side of the path as if it belonged there. Colonnello had done this hundreds of times and there had never been a drawer unit in that position before. Not even on April's fool's day. They stop staring at the piece of furniture and keep on running towards the next obstacle- barbed wire that had to be crawled under. On the first post is a pile of thick white card in A4 sized sheets. Ignoring that too, Colonnello remembers the problem with this one. If Tsunayoshi crawled under then he'd get mud on his trousers. Yet the barbed wire was too low to the ground for him to carry Tsunayoshi on his back again. He couldn't walk over it either.

"If there is a brain rather than butterflies in your head then use it. I've given you everything you need. I thought I'd taught you to take note of your environment?" shouts Lal from the opposite side on the barbed wire.

Environment? The only things different from usual were all of the weird things Lal had placed around them. White card and a unit of drawers…

Oh, idea!

Colonnello runs back to the drawer unit and pulls out one of the bottom drawers. He runs back to where Tsunayoshi is with it before holding it out infront of him.

Tsunayoshi looks warily at him. "I don't think I'd fit in that…" Tsunayoshi mumbles.

"Sure you will Tsunayoshi! You can lay in here and then I'll push you along. You won't get dirty at all that way." Colonnello lays the drawer down on the ground before noticing a fatal floor. The drawer was too tall to get under the barbed wire. Maybe if it had been a normal sized large drawer then it might of, but this one was an extra deep drawer.

Okay then. The answer must lie in the white card. Colonnello rushes back to the drawers and pulls out all of them. It was all ordinary things that any drawer might contain. Ahh! Sticky tape. Kneeling before Tsunayoshi Colonnello places one of the pieces of white card around Tsunayoshi's shin before sticky taping it in place. He repeats the process until all of Tsunayoshi's leg and hands are covered. Now he could crawl and not get covered in mud.

"You have such weird ideas Colonnello." Says Tsunayoshi, looking down at the piece of card taped to his hand. But Tsunayoshi gets down on all fours anyway and crawls under the wire. Colonnello follows suit. They finally pass that obstacle and Tsunayoshi is quick to remove the dirty card from his body. It was rather uncomfortable. Colonnello picks Tsunayoshi up again before running forwards. Picking the boy up was quicker than Tsunayoshi running.

The next trial they have to face is something new. There are lots of leaves on the floor, as well as sprinklers raining down from above. What? He couldn't get Tsunayoshi wet either!

Colonnello sighs harshly before turning around and running off the way they came. "Grrr Lal!" he was so annoyed with her right now. The damn umbrella was back at the start!. However he takes the short way, going around the obstacles instead of back through them. Lal had never mentioned that he had to stick to the course. Nor does Lal seem to shout and slap him silly when he does so. Now back at the start, he grabs the umbrella before running back to where Tsunayoshi was. He places the boy on his shoulders before handing him the umbrella.

They walk forwards under the sprinklers, but Colonnello still has to be careful of the slippery leaves. If he slipped then Tsunayoshi would get wet. This continues on for a little while, and Colonnello gets a mental workout having to solve these puzzles. Tsunayoshi is having a wonderful time. Just after he clears the most difficult obstacle yet, Lal meets them during the walk in-between.

Colonnello pants before handing Tsunayoshi to her. "You know what Lal. I think it's your turn to look after him." Tsunayoshi smiles up at her and claps his hands.

"Yay! Let's go Lal!" he encourages. Lal shrugs her shoulders and starts running whilst holding the child. She knew that Colonnello would stop after that one. All of the trials after here were easy ones. She could make up the lost time easily from this point onwards.

It's not until after Lal finished the next trial in record time that Colonnello realises what she's done. "Damn you kora."

Their next trial consists of walking across a balance beam whilst arrows were shooting from one side to the other. "I've got this one Lal!" sings Tsunayoshi, tightening his grip on her back with his legs. He would need his hands free for this one. Lal nods, and places one hand under Tsunayoshi to steady him along with another one on his back to keep him stable.

She watches the timing of the arrows for a few moment, recording their patterns. "You'll have three to catch." She warns. Tsunayoshi nods, eyes serious. If there was one thing the Lal and Reborn had taught him, it was how to catch flying weapons. It was a skill that he'd been good at back when they'd met Vongola Version Vigilante. But in the many months since then he'd gotten even better at it. "Ready? 3,2,1, now." She runs forwards ducking under one arrow. Tsunayoshi catches the next arrow that comes their way. Lal then stops to let an arrow fly infront of her before continuing on her way. Tsunayoshi catches the next two before Lal jumps off of the bar.

Colonnello smiles at them from his seat on the grass nearby. "You know Lal, you could have used the frying pan that was hanging on those rocks earlier to shield him with. Or don't you look at your environment?" She hated that Colonnello was using her own words back at her. "You can't get complacent now Lal." Colonnello reminds. He wasn't afraid to talk back to Lal. Someone needed to keep her sharp as well. He was one of the few people with the guts to order her about, to provide challenges for her to face. "Chop chop, you're still in third Lal. You're not going to be beaten now are you?" Lal was competitive, horribly so. She never lost at anything physical if she could help it.

Resisting the urge to slap him, she grits her teeth and carries on. Next they come up to a rope suspended over a sand pit. For this one the trainee usually crawled along it upside down, with their back barely above the sand. This time it was not possible for her to carry Tsunayoshi across. Nor did he have the arm strength to do it by himself. She turns back around and runs off to gather some of the useful things places around. She grabs a few coat hangers as well as a wrapped up tent.

She goes back to Tsunayoshi before taking the tent out of its casing. The tents she throws away, she doesn't need it. Instead she takes the casing and bites into it before ripping it down the seam. The seam tears leaving Lal with something similar to a blanket. She loops the handles over the hooks of the coat hangers before telling Tsunayoshi to climb in. The tent had been one of the large ones, along with all of the sticks needed to put it up so the bag was a large one to start with. And since Tsunayoshi was so small he easily fitted inside the makeshift bag. She holds the bag up in the air by the coat hangers to see if it'll hold his weight. Since it's army grade the stitching is excellent and holds up. She then places the hooks of the coat hanger over the suspended rope before tying a rope to them. She then proceeds to cross the rope herself before pulling on the other rope and dragging Tsunayoshi across. There nice and dry.

The last two obstacles are easy ones. The first one is a net climb. She takes the parts of her riffle out of its various places, like strapped to the inside of her leg and arms, and quickly assembles it. "Tsunayoshi. You have 10 seconds to climb that before I shoot at you, understand?" Tsunayoshi nods and gets running as soon as Lal fires a bullet at his feet. Well, near his feet at least, she couldn't have been much further away if she tried.

The recruits didn't know a small boy could move that fast. He quickly overtakes the recruit in second place. His capabilities always rose exponentially when his life was in danger. Lal knew that and exploited it. She herself is right behind Tsunayoshi just in case he misses and falls off. She doesn't need to worry since he passes it easily. The next one was a pyramid log climb; usually the trainees had to cling from one to the other, climbing up and then down the other side. If they fell off they had to start again. Lal had made it harder this time by coating it in sticky black gel.

Lal goes and finds the plank of wood she had used earlier and brings it back. She lays the plank on top of the logs before prompting Tsunayoshi to run up it. He does so, nearly slipping due to the steep gradient, but she pushes him onwards. Once they get to the top, Lal grabs the plank and hefts it up and over so it covers the logs in the other side. They had to be quick, the trainee in first place was nearly at the goal. Lal pushes Tsunayoshi and he slides down the plank before hitting the ground and doing a roly-poly through the goal line. Lal copies the gesture in true action-man style.

There she had won.

Not two seconds afterwards, Colonnello half slides half surfs down the slide too since he was standing up, before performing a cartwheel over the line. Almost immediately after the first recruit passes over the line. He would punch Colonnello for cheating and using the plank at the end, but he's far too out of breath to be able to do more than stand at the moment.

"Lal, that last bit, he didn't get grass stains on his back did he?" asks Colonnello frantically.

Lal shakes her head before smacking Colonnello. "Of course not, idiot. Why else do you think I spent a full two minutes of my time putting Clingfilm on his back?"

"That was so fun." Says Tsunayoshi with a huge smile decorating his slightly red face. How someone could smile so brightly that sparkles formed in the background after completing one of Lal's demon courses, no one, even Lal and Colonnello themselves, knew. Then again he had been carried most of the time. "Can we do it again?"

"NO!" Both firmly say. Once was more than enough for both of them.

Of course training doesn't stop there for the recruits. There are still shooting drills to go through. Tsunayoshi watches them for a bit, every now and again making a comment about who was going to miss their shot since something had told him that they would. Lal and Colonnello knew to take him seriously, especially since he had had this ability ever since he was a baby. At least now they knew where it came from. But eventually the rhythmic sound of guns shooting and arrows thunking into the boards sends Tsunayoshi to sleep. The recruits are surprised that Tsunayoshi could sleep through that, but he had had a lot of practice. Guns were a common weapon inside of their house after all.

Once Colonnello passes all of the tests for the shooting elements, he goes and sits next to Tsunayoshi to watch the others. But that gets rather boring rather quick. He didn't know how Lal could watch and teach them. But at least the sun was nice on his back. He stretches and lies down, enjoying the warmth. Soon after, he too falls asleep.

Lal eventually broke the recruits up for lunch. But when after an hour passes and Lal's not shouted for them to return, the recruits go and find out what's happening. They can't believe what they are seeing when they eventually do find them. Lal was asleep in the sun, an arm slung over Tsunayoshi, whose head was on Colonnello's shoulder. All the recruits knew that Lal and Colonnello loved each other, despite the flirting nature Colonnello had and Lal's apparent rejection to it. It just seemed to everyone that both were denying their feelings. But looking at them like that with the small boy, the recruits reckoned that Lal and Colonnello would make a great family one day.

* * *

><p><strong>Ahh, isn't that a cute image to end on? I can picture all three asleep like that, all cuddled up close. And talking of cute, Bermuda looks cuter as a baby when he has his bandages on compared to being a baby without the bandages. A bandaged Baby Bermuda is just adorable, I want to cuddle him. <strong>

**So who likes Bermuda's first encounter with The Bag?**

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 11 October 2012**

_Soldiers keep on going- Lal incorporates Tsuna into the training to hinder Colonnello_


	45. Birthdays Surprise

Chapter 45:

Birthday special

**The Mafia Row committee apologises for the change in the scheduled programming. Please enjoy!**

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><p>The halls were dark, curtains drawn against the mid-day sun. Their Master was always moody when he first woke up, not that he wasn't always in a mood in general. A Lion prowls down the hallway in search of something meaty. Yeah, steak would do. A nice steak and a glass of vintage wine. What better breakfast?<p>

He walks into the dining hall and stalks down to his chair at the end of the table, his back towards the offensive light. How dare it be so bright and hurt his eyes. His team members pause in the habitual morning fights to watch their Boss enter the room. It was a good thing that their Boss hadn't awoken this morning until the afternoon. This was technically lunch for them.

One of them immediately breaks away from his seat and fills the Lion's glass with his favourite brand of wine. Nothing was to be spared today of all days. Not that he'd spare the most important person in his life anything, but still, everyone else decided to bring out the good stuff for today. He'd even brought out the larger glasses for this special occasion.

"Hap-" starts the wine pourer as he finishes.

"Ushishishi~ The Prince shall go first as is his Princely right!" The Prince shouts out over the speech of the other one. He jumps out of his seat before skipping over to his Boss. Sitting on the gigantic arm rest, he gives off one of his crazy smiles. "The Prince wishes you a happy, non-peasant-ish Birthday!" He places a Box on the Lion's lap. "The Prince gives permission for you to open the box infront of him." The smirk gets wider. The Lion reaches down and picks up the box. "You should be happy that the Prince even remembered and got you something." The lion grunts, brushing off the words.

The box is opened revealing a chain meant to be worn on a belt. The Lion takes the chain out of the box. Along it were various glittering charms made out of titanium and other precious metals. So far there were only three charms. One, right in the centre, was a crown. The other two were guns, set either side of the crown. The Lion returns the chain to the box before chucking it down the table. The Prince gauges the distance it was thrown before smiling. "Ushishishi~ Beat that Peasants!" He jumps off of the arm rest of the throne before skipping back to his seat and finishing his lunch.

"Boss you shall be most pleased with my gif-"

"MOU~ Bossu. Happy Birthday!" Sings the Bird, cutting the umbrella toting male off. The Bird flies down to the other end of the room in large graceful jumps before coming to a perfect stop by the throne. The Bird leans over the back of the throne and his Boss' shoulder before singing, "I got you a little something!"

Wiggling his hips in a strange manor, the Bird reaches into his jacket before pulling out a box wrapped in black and red wrapping paper. The paper is shredded in an instant revealing yet another box. The Lion growls at the inconvenience before ripping that box off too. Just get to the point already. He had some steak to eat you know. Inside that box was a rather, especially for this guy's fashion sense, tasteful red and black tie that suited their Boss perfectly. The tie goes back in it's box before following the earlier present down the table, landing slightly infront of the Prince's offering. The Prince isn't happy with this and pouts, throwing a knife at the Bird as he flies past.

"Now is the perfect time-!"

"VROIII! You lazy ass Boss, take this." The shark throws something from his place at the table with full force. The Lion holds his hand out and catches the gift. "It's from the Old Man." The Shark adds.

Almost immediately the gift is thrown down the hall with all the force the Lion could muster, crashing straight through the wooden door, across the hallway, out the window and into the garden beyond. The Lion hadn't even looked at it. The Shark nods in approval before throwing something else to his Boss. "Don't break this one, I ain't getting your ass another one."

The Lion opens his hand to reveal the unboxed and unwrapped present. It was totally bare, getting straight to the point, the Lion liked that. In his hand was a pristine knife, glinting in the sunlight. He throws it back at the Shark, watching as it removes a few strands of hair before thunking into the wall. It was a good quality knife. He'd keep it. "Fetch." The Lion barks. The subordinate/servant runs quickly across the room before removing the knife from the wall and placing it reverently before his Boss.

"VROIII! You idiot. You blind or what?" The Lion ignores the Shark, placing the knife in the belt sheath the Shark had thrown across earlier before chucking that too down the table. It landed considerably closer to him than the other presents had.

"BOSS! May I present my present to your excellent self," says the last one in the room, finally uninterrupted. He quickly runs out of the room before dragging a carcass into the room. "I went out this morning and used all of my power to kill and cook this magnificent beast for you! The Lightning gives it an extra flavour suitable for your defined pallet."

The Lion ignored the jabbering of the nutcase, too busy deciding what piece to try fist. Finally deciding he rips a hunk of meat off before trying it. It was horrible, far too over cooked for his taste. There was a reason no one used Lightning to cook with. He grabs the fanatical man by the shirt before flinging him down the table. The man skids a short distance before falling off the end of the table.

"Thank you Boss!" shouts the man in pure joy. "You loved my gift so much that you forgot to gauge your strength!" He couldn't be more wrong, but instead the Lion was interested in the new thing that had entered the room.

A giant box was being wheeled into the room by two maids, with a certain Illusionist sitting on the top, getting a free ride.

"Here. This is my gift." She says in a monotone voice, jumping down and sitting on a chair at the table. The box is placed by the side of the throne before the two maids leave the room. The Lion looks suspiciously to his tamed Illusionist but she makes no motions other than a _hurry it up_ one. There was a ribbon with an 'open here' sign, so he pulled on it. The sides of the box fall down revealing a tall cake. But suddenly the cake explodes.

"Happy Birthday Xanxus!" Sings Tsunayoshi standing up out of the cake.

Xanxus looks back over to Mammon but she waves a hand in the air. "Like I said, there's your present." Xanxus would like it and it was free, especially since the cake was an illusion anyway. So it was a win win situation for both parties.

Xanxus leans over the arm rest before picking the boy up and placing him on his lap.

"Ushishishi~ He's not even on the table. Minus Points! Mammon loses!" Belphegor sings, sticking his tongue out at Mammon.

"Hmm, actually, that end of the table is the minus end." Points put Lussuria, pointing to where Levi currently was. Then he gasps. "That means that Tsu-chan is over 100 points! Mammon wins this time!"

Xanxus hears this and growls slightly. He places Tsunayoshi on the shiny table surface before giving him a light push. Tsunayoshi slides down the table, about a metre away, which was still miles closer than the other presents had gotten.

The Varia were Vongola after all, so the Traditional Scoring system was used. Xanxus, being Xanxus, decided to mess things up. Instead of a board showing the scale of the scores, he did it by chucking things down the table. The closer to him, the more he liked it. Hence why Nono's gift had ended up outside in the garden. He didn't want gifts from his father. Gifts were meaningless anyway.

"I got you a present!" sings Tsunayoshi, crawling down the table and back into Xanxus' lap. He starts to pat his pockets down, searching for the box. When he suddenly realises that he doesn't have it, tears form in his eyes. "I-I…I…"

Xanxus grunts before lifting the hood of Tsunayoshi's lion hoodie, pulling it down to cover the little boy's eyes. "You don't cry infront of me, got it." He places a large hand on top of the hoodie, totally ignoring the fluff and the lion ears. Xanxus wasn't going to let the others see Tsunayoshi's moment of weakness either.

Viper sighs before walking over and dropping a box into the boy's hoodie pocket. Feeling the new weight, Tsunayoshi reaches into the pocket and pulls out the box. "You were so excited to get here that you left it on the counter." Viper explains before returning to her seat. She was quickly attacked by Belphegor, who decided to change seats to sit next to her and pull on her cheeks as punishment for bringing a gift that beat the Prince's.

Tsunayoshi smiles happily at Xanxus, eyes bright from the tears. Xanxus blushes at the cuteness of the little boy before deciding to leave the hood up. The others weren't going to see that either, he decides. Tsunayoshi opens the little box before bringing out a clump of feathers. "I worked on this for ages!" Tsunayoshi says proudly before leaning up and over to Xanxus' shoulder. Xanxus stays still, embarrassed since this was the closest to a hug he'd ever gotten before. He feels Tsunayoshi fiddle with the fox charm sat on his shoulder before the brat pulls back. Tsunayoshi smiles at him, admiring his work. "It looks great!" he decides, proud of himself.

Viper sees the look of confusion and interest in Xanxus' eyes, so she illusions up a mirror in Xanxus' sight. He takes the mirror and looks into it, looking at the feathered addition Tsunayoshi had provided.

"They are supposed to keep you safe Xanxus." Tsunayoshi provides, stroking the fox tail.

The Varia watch on speechless. First of all, the brat was sat on Xanxus's lap. Not forced there, not being held in a strangling grip. Just comfortably sitting there as safe as can be. Secondly was the fact that he was _still_ sitting there and hadn't been chucked off a second time. Thirdly was the fact that Xanxus had hidden the boy's tears and has said something sincere in the softest voice anyone had ever heard from him. And now… now he'd let someone else touch the charm on his shoulder. No one touched that charm unless they wanted to die a quick and painful death.

And finally, finally, those feathers hadn't been removed. Nor did it look like they were going anywhere anytime soon.

That boy was seriously fearless.

Xanxus doesn't say thank you. There was no need to. Gifts were useless anyway as was celebrating something as stupid as the day someone was born. Really what was the point?

He picks Tsunayoshi up by the scruff of the hoodie and slings him down the polished table in Viper's direction.

The fact Tsunayoshi was alive and unharmed was thanks enough.

* * *

><p>Surprise parties were not something that worked on Reborn since he always managed to find out about them somehow. So whenever the lights went up and everyone shouted out surprise, Reborn didn't jump, he just looked smug. Sometimes he wasn't at the newly opened doors, surprising everyone else when they got used to the lights again. Instead he'd already be at the seat of honour. So they didn't do that this year.<p>

Various presents had already been left in a pile outside the Arcobaleno house. Gifts from Families who wished to gain Reborn's favour or be in his good books, buttering him up for later. Not that it ever worked; Reborn was impartial like that. There was a particularly huge cake waiting outside too, a small pink haired girl curled up asleep next to it. Bianchi had wanted to be the first one to wish Reborn a happy birthday, so she had camped outside all night.

When she woke up in the morning, she found herself back in her bed at home. However there was a note next to her bedside table.

"_Thank you. The cake was killer. I enjoyed it very much. R."_

Both of those sentences were true. The cake really did kill people, he'd save some for his next assignment. He had enjoyed the cake too… well enjoyed watching Skull moan and wreath in pain after he had eaten a piece, but it was still entertaining.

Luce had a tradition in the Arcobaleno house. In an attempt to make these unsociable people more human she insisted that everyone get presents for the other's birthdays. Viper was not a happy bunny when she heard that. It meant spending money after all. But do it she did.

So after a special dinner, Luce's finest work, everyone sat around the living room and gave their presents to the hitman.

Viper went first, remaining seated since she had nothing physical to give. "One piece. I'll give you one piece of information out of my Information Locker for free. See me later once you know who you want the dirt on." Reborn nods to her, pleased with her offering. Again it suited the both of them, being free yet useful.

Verde nods to a box on the table. "In there is a vial of yellow mixture. It's a poison I recently created. Just shake the vial until it changes colour and then throw it at your target. It works just as well on one or a group of people. It slowly paralyses and then shuts down the nervous system ending in termination." Reborn takes the box off the table and places it inside his jacket.

"Verde, you know what I say about poisons." Says Luce with a warning tone in her voice.

Verde rolls his eyes before waving a hand in her direction. "Already done. I'll administer the counter agent to everyone later tonight. I've even made a smaller stronger dose for Tsunayoshi. None of the Arcobaleno will be affected by it ever." Luce nods satisfied.

"This one's from me and Lal." Comments Colonnello, handing a suitcase over to Reborn. The hitman lays the case on the coffee table before pulling the latches and opening it. Inside was a group of individual parts along with a stock of bullets. "I know you don't like the conventional guns so we thought you'd prefer the parts to modify your own."

"Those blue bullets in the corner are Vongola ones." Comments Lal. She'd gotten them through her CEDEF connections. Vongola were always making high quality experimental bullets which Reborn loved to play with.

Reborn closes the suitcase and places it against the side of the sofa, smirking in their direction. It was his pleased 'someone's–in-for-hell' smile, which was a good sign. He liked them then.

Bermuda walks over next, dangling a key on a piece of string infront of Reborn's face. Carefully, Reborn raises an eyebrow at the Mafia Jailer, wondering what the significance of an antique key was. He didn't collect trinkets.

"This key is for a room in the Vendicare. You can do with it as you wish: Hold prisoners there, do interrogations, torture, executions, hide there. Whatever you want. Show this key at the door and even if I'm not available, one of the others will let you in." Bermuda explains slowly swinging the key back and forth.

Reborn's smirk gets broader. These guys knew how to give presents that was for sure.

Fon stands up next, walking over to where Reborn was situated. He places a bright red bag on the table. Everyone can already guess what's in there. Only one thing gave off this smell.

"The special stuff you like so much." Fon smiles, giving a half bow in presentation of the bag. Reborn pulls his fedora down low, hiding the soft smile and glittering eyes he had. This particular coffee bean was very hard to get hold of. So much so that Reborn only drank it for special occasions. That Fon had managed to find some was nearly a miracle. Well timed too, Reborn had almost been running out of his supply.

Skull strides to the middle of the carpet, already making a spectacle of himself. "Prepare yourselves for I have found the ultimate gift!" Skull boldly declares. Reborn smirks, highly unbelieving. Skull parades into the kitchen, bringing out an iced cake. "Who doesn't like cake on their birthday?"

As he's bringing the cake across, Skull trips on the edge of the carpet, falling forwards. Right in the direction of Reborn in his immaculate suit. But Reborn remains calm. He simply kicks the empty coffee table, making it lean upwards and into Skull. The cake gets crushed between the table and Skull with a loud splat sound. As the table falls back into it's original position, it is revealed that Skull has a cake mud mask on. The icing slowly drips off, slipping down to the floor.

Skull sniffs before bursting out into tears. "Ahh, my gift was ruined. Now what will I do?"

Reborn leans forwards, placing an elbow on his knee and propping his head up on it. "It's alright Skull. I know how you can redeem yourself."

Skull's eyes light up. "Really?!"

Reborn nods. "Yes, really." Skull waits in anticipation for Reborn to speak once more. "You can just continue to be my lackey for the year. Just do everything I tell you and you'll be fine. It'll be the 'Ultimate gift'."

The rest burst out into laughter over such a Reborn-like remark. Skull though, looks terrified and quickly retreats to his seat. Tsunayoshi leans up and gathers some of the cake and icing in his hand before eating it. "Yum. Skull this was really good." Skull smiles at Tsunayoshi, glad someone had liked it.

Luce passes a bag over to Reborn, who was sat next to her. "Happy Birthday Reborn. I hope you had a good one." She says, smiling that bright Luce smile of hers. "I borrowed the Muira Tailor's workshop for a little while. Everything is specially made; there's reinforcements in the collar against knife attacks and bullets aiming for your neck. Each of the cuff-links is a flash bomb. And the tie completes the outfit." Luce had gotten Reborn a shirt-tie combo with a pair of cuff-links to complete the picture. Reborn liked to be sharply dressed after all. And to Reborn's utter relief, there wasn't a patch of fur, glitter or feathers in sight.

Finally Tsunayoshi comes over, icing all around his face. He squeezes in-between Luce and Reborn on the sofa before handing him over a brightly wrapped present. Reborn carefully undid the bow and peeled back the paper, revealing a box. Opening the box, Reborn took a peek inside before pulling the item out. The others smile over what Tsunayoshi had gotten the hitman for his birthday.

It was a coffee mug painted with pictures of Reborn, Tsunayoshi and Leon. Reborn carefully places it back in the box for safe keeping before gently smiling at Tsunayoshi, hidden by his fedora as he was.

As Tsunayoshi lay dozing that night next to Reborn, he swears that the hitman squeezes him tighter than he normally did. Reborn only showed affection when they were alone after all.

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><p>Tsunayoshi wondered where they were going. The morning had been excellent so far. He'd had a breakfast filled with all of his favourites, no one had been arguing or shouting or causing a dangerous fight or anything like that. And he'd gotten a really good night sleep last night. He was surprised however, when, after breakfast, the Arcobaleno had directed him outside.<p>

Standing in front of the gate, they suddenly slam open at an invisible force. He blinks when the sunlight hits his eyes and he's attacked by sound from every angle.

**"Happy Birthday Tsunayoshi!"**

He'd never heard something so loud before. He had to take a step backwards at the force of it. He looks infront of him awed by the sight. It was truly a rare one.

It seemed like a street party was taking place at Mafia Row. Lines of tables ran down the middle of the street all piled high with food and balloons, streamers and everything else a party demanded. The food was from every region of the world, all created by the army of chefs that Mr Yamamoto had at his disposal. Everything seemed endless; there were just so many people packed onto the small street, it was amazing that anyone could move at all. In fact it was amazing that there were seats for everybody. _Everybody_ from Mafia Row had come, from the Giegue to the Bovino, from the Shimon to the Gate Keepers.

Excitable as they are, those children that can walk, run over to Tsunayoshi and jump on him. And there were a whole lot of children living on Mafia Row. Okay, so maybe a few had the decency not to jump on him, Hibari since he didn't do that, and Gokudera since it would be disrespectful to Tsunayoshi-sama. Julie and Adel stayed out of the pile too but were quickly pulled in by their Shimon brothers and sister against their will. Tsunayoshi starts laughing somewhere at the bottom of the pile and soon every child there is laughing their heads off.

Eventually order is restored and Tsunayoshi can finally stand up again. Lanchia comes over holding the hand of a very unsteady Fuuta. He had grown so much since Tsunayoshi had last seen him. To save Fuuta from walking any further, Tsunayoshi runs over and hugs the pair of them, accepting their birthday wishes. Lambo and I-pin are brought over too, I-pin already walking whereas Lambo has to be carried. Tsunayoshi smiles at them before hugging them too. Byakuran also bring Bluebell over. Tsunayoshi has a chance to say 'hello' before Bluebell glomps him, almost bringing him to the floor once more.

"Tsunayoshi-sama!" shouts Gokudera, bowing before Tsunayoshi. "May I wish you very happy birthday!" Tsunayoshi smiles gently at Gokudera before pulling him into a hug. Gokudera's attitude always made him laugh.

"Kufufu~ Indeed. I wish you all the joys the Path of Heaven can provide." Mukuro smiles, ruffling Tsunayoshi's hair. He then tugs on the hand he's holding and Chrome stumbles forwards.

"H-happy b-birthday." She whispers, blushing from embarrassment.

"EXTREME BIRTHDAY!" Ryohei roars, fire burning behind him. Gokudera quickly shouts at him for being too loud.

"Haha, have a good birthday Tsunayoshi." Yamamoto laughs. "I hope the next year is filled with lots of home runs!" Home runs were a good thing right? Tsunayoshi couldn't remember.

"Hn, you survived another year Herbivore. Well done." Supplies Hibari as he walks past, trying to find the best position to watch from. Kusakabe bows and provides a more traditional birthday greeting before following after Hibari.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder Tsunayoshi turns around to find Enma there. "T-t-tsunayoshi, happy birthday." Emna mumbles, barely audible over the noise of everyone else.

"Thanks Enma!" smiles Tsunayoshi, truly happy that Enma had looked for him. But then he gasps as he notices a trickle of blood on Enma's face. "Are you alright? You ended up on the bottom too didn't you?" It was just their luck to be at the bottom of the huge dogpile from earlier. Enma nods sheepishly, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Giotto walks over and smiles at Tsunayoshi. The small boy kneels to the floor, some ingrained instinct acting for him rather than conscious thought. Primo shakes his head but the smile doesn't leave his lips. He continues to walk over and picks Tsunayoshi up. "We can't start until you're in place you know. You're holding everything up." There was laughter in Giotto's voice, he wasn't actually mad. He plops the boy down in the huge seat at the start of the line of tables.

Everyone else sits down too. Primo raises his glass of wine and says in a voice used to shouting over crowds, "Here's to Tsunayoshi!"

"Cheers!"

Everything from then on passed by in a blur. All Tsunayoshi could remember was hundreds of presents, lots and lots of food and hundreds of people talking to him. He played some party games with the other children, often getting the adults to join in too (they couldn't say no to him on a normal day, let alone today). The pile of presents is ten times taller than himself; it may as well have been a mountain. Slowly Tsunayoshi works his way through, making sure to thank each Family individually for their gifts.

But eventually, he gets to the last one, right at the very bottom. It's rather plain and ordinary, not fancily decorated with ribbons and bows like some of the other ones were. Tsunayoshi looks at the note curiously. It simply said:

_To Me. Happy Birthday. From You and Them. _

Since when had he given himself a present? He didn't remember buying one. He opens the box to see what's inside. Carefully laid on some white tissue paper is a small fabric bag. It's almost flat, bright blue and smaller than a credit card. Credit cards, Viper's holy grail he was sure- He wasn't even allowed to touch one in case he broke it. On it was some writing in what seemed to be Japanese, along with a fish. It seemed familiar. He knew that it was important, that it meant something and that he should keep it on him. Knowing that Haru was good with Japanese stuff, he goes and finds her.

"Oh, it's a good luck charm desu!" she screams, carefully picking it up to admire it. "Such amazing work. I'm so jealous desu!"

Why would he give himself a Japanese Good Luck charm?

He really didn't know.

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><p><strong>Sorry about the change, but it <strong>**was**** Tsunayoshi's birthday today. And it was Xanxus's on the 10****th****. I love him too much to miss it. I did Reborn's for two reasons. One was since I couldn't miss him out if I was going to do Xanxus' as well and the second reason will appear next chapter. **

**Hope you enjoyed it. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 14 October 2012 **


	46. And a Hitman Works around it

Chapter 46: 

And a Hitman Works around it.

**I just wanted to check, but you are all fine with me adding in more action into this fic right? It'll still be cute and fluffy, I assure you. But I don't want you all getting bored with daily life stuff- although this chapter is the last of the 'Daily Life of an Arcobaleno' arc. We'll be moving on to something much more interesting that was suggested to me a very long time ago. So I hope you're looking forwards to it. **

**And another reminder that Reborn's chapter is a controversial one, although you didn't seem to mind Bermuda's that much…**

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><p><em>Did it make you sick?<em>

Reborn didn't really care about this alternate future world thing that had happened. Nor did he care about the message that this older Boss-like Tsuna had said. He should sort his own problems out, not rely on a new born version of himself to pull through where he couldn't. And the reason he couldn't care less was because he was going to do it anyway. It was nice to know that Tsunayoshi had the potential to become someone like that- Viper had provided a good feel of his aura through her illusion movie and that Tsuna had one to be proud of.

But the thing was, Reborn knew he could do better. Reborn had planned to do better even before the whole fiasco had happened.

He knew that many people noticed it, the Varia had, the Giegue had and even the GateKeepers had. Tsunayoshi was a glittering mine of untapped potential. A literal absorbent blank canvas that he could do anything with. Tsunayoshi had taken very well to what training they had given to him so far.

Now it was time to strike down one of the most important and influential paint strokes and see if the canvas could handle it. This could very well define the picture.

Now was the best time since the Canvas was still mainly White, Black and Red. Tsunayoshi had grown up around their aesthetics. He had grown up on a Mafia Island. His view of the world was unbiased and fresh to mould. The reason being they had brought him up that way and he knew no differently. He didn't know this wasn't considered normal.

Reborn wasn't being selfish. Well only slightly. But doing it now was better for Tsunayoshi. It was going to save him from a broken heart and mind later on in his life. It was best to do it now before Tsunayoshi got a rose-eyed view of the world.

"Tsunayoshi, you like spy movies don't you?" asks Reborn, lounging on the sofa with his feet up on the coffee table.

Tsunayoshi looked up from the picture he was drawing with his crayons and grins. "Yeah! Me and Colonnello and Skull watch them all the time. Things go Bang and Boom and you have to be sneaky sneaky." Tsunayoshi curls his shoulders in and lifts up his arms, doing the stereotypical tiptoeing pose.

One side of Reborn's mouth twitches upwards in a smile. "Sneaky sneaky, eh? Good, you're coming with me today."

Tsunayoshi throws his crayons into the air with a cheer. He was going to get to go with Reborn today!

After breakfast Reborn takes Tsunayoshi up to his room before helping the boy to change into his… Spy gear. Which basically consisted of as much body armour as Reborn could fit onto the little boy. Sakura Miura _knew_ how to make body armour. Although, Reborn considered, Tsunayoshi wasn't that small anymore. In the many months between now and the Bovino incident he had grown a lot. He was still small, complete with chubby cheeks and baby fat, but Reborn could see the muscles starting to form from their training. Being around them meant there was no chance of Tsunayoshi becoming fat.

"Reborn, you're forgetting something." Tsunayoshi whines as Reborn picks him up and heads for the door.

"Hn, I don't think so." Reborn never forgot something. Ever.

As they walk out of the door Tsunayoshi leans further over Reborn's shoulder, stretching an arm out back towards the room.

"But… But, the hat!" Tsunayoshi sniffs. Reborn had no choice but to return to the room and grab the fedora, slapping it down hard on the boy's head.

"All better~" Tsunayoshi sings, all sign of sniffles disappeared.

They leave even before the sun has risen. Walking down past the GateKeepers, they arrive at the docks and, luckily for Tsunayoshi, climb into a helicopter instead of a boat. When they are finally in the air, Tsunayoshi gets up on his knees and takes a good look outside. They were so high up, he could see everything from here. He wasn't scared of heights at all. Heights were safe. Heights meant he was above everyone and could watch everyone at once. Height meant he could watch and protect. Hmm, where had that thought come from?

"Where are we going?" asks Tsunayoshi, being forced to sit back down by a tug from Reborn on his harness. Everything was so loud that it was hard to hear, even with this large clunky helmet on. Reborn's voice sounds clear though, somehow blending in with the noise yet the deepness of it cut through.

"An assignment from Nono." Reborn replies, lifting the manila folder slightly from where he was re-reading it.

"From Gramps?" asks Tsunayoshi. Reborn nods his head, ignoring the name Tsunayoshi had just used. Timoteo had tried many times to get Reborn and Viper to call him that.

Reborn turns to the small child, a serious look on his face. "We're sneaking into a rival Family's house, stealing some information and then getting out of there. You have to be silent since we can't be seen. It would be very very bad to be seen." Tsunayoshi catches on to Reborn's serious no-nonsense mood and nods solemnly. He didn't want to stop Reborn from doing his job. Plus, spies had to be silent when they were being sneaky sneaky. That's what the cool hand movements were for.

"Why did Nono send you?" asks Tsunayoshi. It sounded rather easy, Reborn was an expert in hiding and remaining unnoticed.

"The Varia are too loud and the information that we are getting is something that can't be trusted to the normal Mafioso. He chose me since he knew I could do a good job and I'd protect his secret."

"Secret secrets." Nods Tsunayoshi, understanding the concept of secrets. Leon crawls down from Reborn's shoulder and onto Tsunayoshi's lap. "Hear that Leon? You've got to keep it a secret." The chameleon nods an affirmative before crawling up to sit on Tsunayoshi's shoulder. The boy giggles as Leon crawls up him since it had tickled so much.

The helicopter lands ontop of a skyscraper in the middle of a large town. They get out and go down the elevator before exiting the building. Never having seen so many people, so many strangers, at once, Tsunayoshi instinctively grabs Reborn's hand before taking a step backwards, placing the hitman between him and the rest of the world. Reborn tugs Tsunayoshi forwards and walks into the crowd.

They get a few looks, mainly because people didn't see a small boy in a suit too often, and also since Reborn didn't look like the type of person to have children. They continue on walking towards the edge of the city, getting into the more industrial area. The crowd thins out and Tsunayoshi starts to feel more comfortable. Eventually Reborn comes to a stop and pulls him into an alleyway after checking that no one was watching them.

Reborn bends down to be able to look the boy directly in the eyes, hard black meeting soft brown. "We're going to start." Tsunayoshi nods. But there was one last thing Reborn needed to say. One last piece of insurance. He couldn't have a moment of clumsy Tsunayoshi coming through. He needed the agile one. So looking directly into Tsunayoshi's eyes, eyes harder than they'd ever been before, Reborn says. "**It's life or death**."

_Did your body stop obeying you?_

Tsunayoshi's eyes taken on their own slight hardness. Almost like a password, phrases like that somehow initiated his serious side, the one that they had been training. The one that could run without tripping, the one that could run before he could walk. The one that dodges bullets and catches knives.

"Then don't disappear Reborn." Says Tsunayoshi quietly. That's what he knew death as, to disappear and never be seen again. There had never been any misconceptions over what Reborn's job was. Reborn sometimes made people disappear, sometimes he made them cry, sometime he hurt them worse than he hurt Skull. It was what the Mafia asked of him.

Reborn nods in approval of the boy's answer before standing back up. He checks his watch before grabbing the boy's hand once more. He pulls Tsunayoshi across the street and into an alley on the opposite side. They stop behind a pile of boxes.

"Leon." Reborn whispers. The animal walks over to Reborn from where he'd been under Tsunayoshi's shirt. "Check the route is clear for us to enter."

Leon nods before emitting come sort of croak, or whatever sound chameleons made. Within seconds the area was surrounded by bugs of all shapes and sizes. Tsunayoshi even recognises some of them from when they had been in the house or in the garden. Of course Verde kept on giving them those silly names that never made any sense and were totally wrong, but he eventually gave better names afterwards. There were ants, some fruit flies and some cockroaches. Leon makes another noise before the bugs all disappear. Some go into the cracks in the wall, others inside an air vent and some crawl under the door.

"What did Leon do?" asks Tsunayoshi, keeping his voice as low as possible. It was the voice he used to talk to Fantasma when Viper was still asleep.

"They are my minions and informants." Reborn explains. "Leon talks to them and then he tells me what I need to know. They are checking to see if the corridor we're about to walk into is clear of people. They are going to keep us safe." Tsunayoshi leans backwards, mouth forming an 'o' in understanding before he pats Leon on the head.

Less than a minute had passed before some of the insects had returned. They communicate with Leon through a series of clicks, arm movements and antenna waving before Leon turns around and looks at Reborn. Tsunayoshi watches the pair, waiting for the magic moment of communication. What was Leon going to do? Turn into a pen and write the answer? Turn into a keyboard and type the answer? Was he going to croak and Reborn was going to translate? Wait, could Reborn even speak Chameleon? What was going to happen…

Leon nods.

Reborn nods.

That's it.

Tsunayoshi looks between the pair as Reborn stands up with the obvious intent to walk through the door. That was it? No cool spy code? Not even a hand movement… nothing?

Tsunayoshi quickly runs up over to where Reborn was picking the lock. It clicks and the door opens. Reborn peers around the door, checking for any cameras before opening the door wider and letting them both in. Reborn draws the door close, so anyone who walked past wouldn't know that it had been open, but it was still a viable escape route. Reborn brings one of his guns out and re-checks that it's loaded before turning a corner.

They stalk down the corridor on silent feet. Tsunayoshi had helped Colonnello train to be silent in a forest in secret so many times that he could walk silently too. He found it was great fun to scare the others by surprising them since they never heard him coming. Reborn comes to a sudden stop, placing a hand behind him to stop Tsunayoshi too. Leaning down Reborn explains, "There is a camera just around the corner. It swings to the left and right. We're going to walk underneath it, but to do that we have to cross it's line of sight twice. We time it carefully and wait for it to face the other way before running to the middle. It can't see us if we're standing below it. When it faces the other direction, you run straight down the rest of the corridor and round the corner okay?"

"I understand." Tsunayoshi confirms. This was in the spy movies too. It wasn't possible for Reborn to carry Tsunayoshi across. Due to his larger size, he needed to be pressed flat against the wall to remain unnoticed. If he was carrying the boy, then they'd be discovered at the bottom of the camera feed.

Reborn decides to go first. If he was at the other side then he could always shoot the camera down in a pinch. He didn't want to since someone would notice the feed going off and call the alarm, but if it saved them from finding out about Tsunayoshi, then he'd willingly shoot it down.

"Tsunayoshi, can you still hear me?" asks Reborn in a loud whisper- Leon hadn't said that anyone was close by at the moment.

"Yeah." Tsunayoshi replies back in the same tone.

"When I count down from three, you run around the corner okay. The length you need to run is about as long as the dinner table. That's when you stop and wait for the camera to look the other way. On 'go'. Three… Two… One… Go."

At Reborn's cue, Tsunayoshi runs as fast as he can for the spot Reborn had described. He stands underneath the black box, watching it as it swung around to look at where he had been previously. Now all he had to do was run across. He knew when to run. That feeling was telling him again. It had… to be… now!

Before Reborn can even prompt Tsunayoshi to move, the little boy barrels around the corner and straight into him. Reborn catches him and gives him a pat on the back for a job well done. They would be safe for the rest of the way now. Nono had provided him with a map of the place, including where all of the security cameras were. There were no more between here and their ultimate destination.

He allows Tsunayoshi to climb on his back since they could move faster this way. Plus the little boy would be less of a target if someone came up on them from the front. They go down some twisting corridors, always checking for the sounds of human life before moving on. Reborn had timed this raid very carefully. Watchers and moles from the inside had provided data on the Family's schedules and dealings. Dawn was still less than an hour away, so no one would be up at this time. The time for parties had ended long ago, nor was it early enough to be awake for the day.

Eventually they make it to the room Reborn wants to be at. They kneel down and peek around a corner to see a closed door with a small box on the outside. Reborn knew he had the right room now. That box was a finger print scanner to allow access only to certain people. The lucky thing was, there were already people in the room since it was manned 24/7.

Leaning out into the open, Reborn shoots at a pile of boxes, trash, and cleaning materials. The silencer cancels out the sound of the bullet before it crashes into a mop handle. The mop moves, collapsing forwards in its bucket. As mop and bucket go down, they crash into the trash and boxes, causing a loud clattering sound.

"Eh? What was that?"

"Why don't you go and check it out. No one should be up yet."

"Yeah, but remember we had that celebration party last night. The others will be drunk out of their minds. It's probably one of them stumbling around."

"I'll go and check. Stay here."

"Yeah yeah, just don't get puked on."

The door opens and a suited man pokes his head out, looking down the corridor. Seeing no one, he takes another step outside of the room. Reborn takes the opportunity and shoots another bullet. Tsunayoshi notices that this one is a blue blur instead of the usual black one. It hits the man in the chest. Before the Mafioso can react, he falls asleep to the ground.

Putting a hand up to still Tsunayoshi, Reborn creeps across the corridor and into the newly opened room. There is the sound of another silenced bullet before another body hits the floor. Reborn pokes his head out before beckoning Tsunayoshi in. Whilst Tsunayoshi looks around the room, Reborn brings the sleeping body in the room before shutting the door so they wouldn't be discovered.

"Did you kill them?" asks Tsunayoshi, poking one of the men.

"No, I sent them to sleep." Reborn replies.

"That was a special bullet wasn't it?" Tsunayoshi asks, it had been blue after all.

"Yes, it was one of the ones that Lal and Colonnello got me." Reborn explains, walking over to a round door set in the wall. Now that Tsunayoshi takes a closer look, the gun was different than usual too. Apart from the bit that made everything quiet, the gun was longer and the bit that the bullets went into under the gun was larger too. Reborn's other gun was one of the spinny kind but that had less bullets in it.

Tsunayoshi watches Reborn as the hitman attached a small device to a keypad set in the round door. He recognises the green lightning bolt symbol on the side.

"Verde made that. What does it do?" asks Tsunayoshi. All Reborn had done was attach a few wires before staring at the screen intently.

"Yes, Verde made it for me. It's a safe cracker. It figures out the passwords so I can get in places that I need to." Reborn explains, grinning as the screen turns green and a loud click can be heard. The door to the huge safe in the wall opens up.

"Oi, Leon, do your thing. You're looking for file Ver.27.59." Reborn explains, holding his hand in the safe. Leon crawls down Reborn's arm and stands on his fist. Leon then does his glowy transformy thing before a tentacle launches out and latches onto one of the shelves. Leon pulls himself over to the shelf before climbing up and reverting back to his normal form. He runs over to a tray filled with disks before flipping them forwards one by one with his tail.

Reborn had needed Leon to do this since there were sensors in the floor that were pressure sensitive. Nor had he brought the tools necessary to elevate Tsunayoshi off the ground so that the boy could have gotten it. Using Leon was a lot simpler.

Reborn looks up at a squeak and watches as Leon comes back carrying a disk case in its mouth. Leaning in as far as he dares- although his balance was perfect- he takes the disk from Leon before Leon jumps onto his outstretched arm.

Just as Leon gets back on Reborn's shoulder three things happen.

One, Leon growls and bites Reborn's shoulder in warning.

Two, Tsunayoshi gets another feeling and backs away from the door and nearer to Reborn

Three, the door beeps before opening, revealing another suited man.

"Marrek is sick so I'm going to cover-…" The man then says a very naughty word before slamming a big red button that was next to the door. As alarms start blaring around them, the man falls to the floor, blood pooling out of his chest. Tsunayoshi looks towards the only other occupant in the room to see Reborn's arm raised, the gun pointing towards the now dead man.

_Did you faint at the sight of blood?_

"Reborn you…" stutters Tsunayoshi, looking back towards the man on the ground.

"He saw our faces so I had to kill him. Nono specified that no one was to see us. The other two didn't see us so I only put them to sleep." Reborn explains, tucking the disk away in a protected pocket before grabbing Tsunayoshi and running out of the room.

Reborn stays calm as they run through the corridors. Things like this never phased him anymore. Staying calm meant he was in control and that he wouldn't make any mistakes. Staying calm meant he'd live longer. And it was reassuring for Tsunayoshi too. Since Reborn wasn't panicking, neither was he, no matter how much the alarms hurt his ears.

If there was one thing that the Arcobaleno had taught Tsunayoshi, it was to stay calm even when things went wrong.

Reborn hisses as a Mafioso runs around the corner and into their path. Reaching into his coat pocket, he brings out a box that Verde had made to contain this special weapon. Tsunayoshi stares on astounded as Reborn draws out a slice of cake. Sure there was a no panicking rule, but that didn't mean there was time to eat cake! But that's when he notices the cake is purple with worms sticking out of it. With perfect aim, Reborn throws a slice of his birthday cake at the man blocking their path. The man hadn't expected a slice of cake so he had frozen and gotten it smack bang in the middle of his face. The icing stung his eyes so he screamed out in pain. That was a mistake as some of the cake entered his throat and it started to burn.

Reborn grabs Tsunayoshi again before running past the screaming man. For added reassurance, he shoots the man as they run past, leaving Tsunayoshi no time to look back at the blood falling to the floor.

Reborn doesn't care about the camera anymore since people knew he was here. He shoots the surveillance camera down before continuing to run down the corridor and back to the only escape route on this floor.

"There they are!"

"The Boss wants them captured!"

It's then Reborn's turn to mutter a naughty word, so Tsunayoshi slaps his wrist in punishment. However now is not the time to think of such things when they are currently surrounded. This mission had just gone from bad to worse. Reborn quickly reaches into his pocket before bringing out two vials of a bright yellow mixture. As he starts to shake the vials he grunts something to Leon. Leon jumps off Reborn's shoulder to land on Tsunayoshi's face and turn into a gas mask. It didn't matter if Verde had injected them with the antidote to stop them being affected, Reborn wasn't going to take a chance.

He was not going to let anyone harm Tsunayoshi.

"It's time for some Chaos." Reborn says as the vials fly around his fingers. The Mafioso get closer and closer to them, some finally recognising just who they have captured. When they get close enough, Reborn send the two vials flying in opposite directions towards the two groups that had pinned them in.

"Verde Power!" Tsunayoshi cheers as the vials go flying. Reborn shakes his head as he is reminded of a show about planets and princesses and the moon. Of course he wouldn't know about a girly show like that. It wasn't as if Luce had been ill one week and forced him to watch every single season of it. Of course he had escaped…

The vials crash and at first it seems as if nothing has happened. The Mafioso laugh before continuing to close in on their pray. But one by one they stop moving and fall to the ground. As comrade after comrade goes down the men start to panic, only quickening Verde's poison's trail around their internal systems. Within moments all the men are incapacitated on the floor, looking like statues.

Reborn walks over and uses a foot to roll one man over. He doesn't respond. Leaning down Reborn uses gloved hands to check for a pulse or a sign of breath. Neither are present. Like Verde had promised it worked on a group. Reborn would have to ask for more of this stuff. He was sure a garden of statues would be a great present to any Boss that messed with Vongola.

"Are they sleeping with their eyes open?" asks Tsunayoshi, staring into the blank gaze of the man closest to him.

"No Tsunayoshi. They aren't sleeping. I killed them too before they could tell anyone we had been here. C'mon we need to leave before more people come."

_Did you panic?_

Tsunayoshi nods, Leon now sitting on his shoulder instead on his face. Carefully climbing over and around the dead men on the floor, Tsunayoshi follows Reborn out of the building and back into the streets. Again, making sure no one was watching, they dive into a different alleyway and make their way back to where the crowds of people ate them up.

Reborn doesn't relax until they are back in the helicopter and over open water, Mafia Row in view on the horizon.

When they land back at the Docks, instead of leading Tsunayoshi home, Reborn walks past it and into the forest to the side of their house. Colonnello had said there was this private clearing that he and Tsunayoshi went to calm down. Hopefully he could have a talk when they got there. Tsunayoshi had been strangely quiet ever since they had left the Mafia Den and the boy hadn't stopped stroking Leon the whole time.

Finally at the clearing, Reborn sits down in the grass and pulls Tsunayoshi down too. He would prefer to lean against a tree, but a fearful image wasn't what Tsunayoshi needed right now.

"Tsunayoshi, look at me." Demands Reborn. When Tsunayoshi doesn't comply, he grabs the boys chin to force the eye contact.

"So this is what you do? What you and Lal and Colonnello and Fon and Viper and Bermuda and Luce do? That was killing?" Tsunayoshi asks in a monotone voice. Luce may not kill anymore, but she might have done in the past. She used to be a mafia Boss. Giglio Nero were small and neutral but even they had their share of trouble.

"That's right. I killed them. They won't get up again, they won't talk or smile or anything else ever again. They also won't hurt anyone again." Reborn states, knowing Tsunayoshi needed the truth right now. There was a difference between knowing that they were killers and watching one of them kill. There was a difference between imagining the loss of life and watching it leave a body.

"I-it's what had to be done, right?" asks Tsunayoshi, finally willingly meeting Reborn's eyes to get his answers. "There wasn't any other way?"

"No, there wasn't. If they recognised us, then they would have come after us again in the future. They might attack the Vongola, or even the other Arcobaleno to get back at us for stealing from them." Tsunayoshi nods but doesn't say anything so Reborn continues. "They were going to hurt people with the information on this disk. Nono had to weigh their lives up against the thousands that he could save. It's not an easy choice, nor one he likes to make. But the majority come first. **Family** comes first. That's just the way of the Mafia Tsunayoshi."

Tsunayoshi looks down and restarts to pat Leon while he thinks. Reborn gives him time to think this over.

"_I told you I'm changing things around here. I won't let anyone else be killed when there are other options. Vongola is mine to lead or destroy. And if killing is our future then I'm destroying it!"_

"_You said it Juudaime!"_

"_I agree to the EXTREME!"_

"_Vongola is turning back to Primo's Vigilante Group. You're either with me or against me."_

"_We're with you, Vongola Decimo."_

He didn't want people to die, to disappear. But Reborn did it to keep people safe. No one had mentioned this when they told him about Knights! Nearly everyone around him had killed right? But that didn't make them bad people did it? Anyone who was a bad person couldn't smile like Luce could, nor could they give him hugs like Viper did, or pats on the head like Verde did. Bad people didn't have that feeling of love, right?

"J-just promise me…" Tsunayoshi starts. Reborn doesn't say anything or even move until Tsunayoshi continues on. "That you'll only kill people who deserve it. The only people to disappear are people who you have too. Okay? I-I understand that you kill to keep me and the others safe. I d-don't like it, not at all. But you have to, right?"

Tsunayoshi looks up with tears in his eyes. He really didn't want people to disappear, but that was just what the Mafia did right? The mafia killed people every day. He'd grown up around people who killed. I-i-it was normal.

Reborn lays a hand on the top of Tsunayoshi's head before bringing the boy in close for one of his extremely rare hugs. "I promise."

* * *

><p>They return back to the Arcobaleno house once Tsunayoshi has better control of himself. Opening the door, Tsunayoshi runs upstairs and grabs Natsu before returning downstairs. He walks over to Lal who was watching the news before sitting down on her lap whether she liked it or not. He brought his knees up to his chest, buried his head into Lal's shoulder and refused to move afterwards.<p>

Lal looks up to Reborn. "What happened?" Reborn's answer is to discharge the ammunition from the gun. Lal can see that the holder in the gun is almost empty. Reborn didn't waste bullets if he didn't have to, unlike Colonnello. She brushes her hand over Tsunayoshi's hair to calm him down, but looks at her hand when she feels something sticky against his cheek.

"Oh Tsunayoshi." She whispers, giving him a tighter hug. It was always hard to watch the day when her trainees lost their blood innocence, either first or second hand.

"I'm alright." Tsunayoshi mumbles.

Lal stands up, supporting the child in her grip. Colonnello walks in and sees Tsunayoshi looking sad. As he walks on over to check on the boy he spots the splash of blood on Tsunayoshi's cheek. Since he didn't have a cut there, it could only mean one thing. But he didn't like seeing Tsunayoshi sad like this. That look didn't suit his face.

"C'mon Tsunayoshi, let's get you washed up." Says Lal, turning to walk up the stairs.

"Aww, Tsunayoshi, how come you get to have a bath with Lal?" pouts Colonnello, voice fakely whiney.

"'Cause she likes me better than you, Colonnello." Says Tsunayoshi, at least trying to smile at the joke. He sticks his tongue out at the soldier before Lal takes him out of view.

As soon as the sound of Lal's footsteps couldn't be heard on the stairs, Colonnello turns on Reborn, this aura and voice that of a freezing blizzard. "How could you do that!"

"Hn, it's better to get it over and done with now. Or did you want to do the explaining to a teen Tsunayoshi who would have reacted worse. If we waited we could have lost him totally. It's better he knows now. Less heart ache that way."

Colonnello brings his fist back and slams it into Reborn's jaw. Reborn's head turns with the movement and stays facing the side.

"Anything else? I'm not going to regret what I did." Reborn replies, voice quiet and low.

"Now is not the time for your Live by your Dying Will code Reborn." Colonnello growls out. He grabs Reborn by the collar before dragging the hitman into the kitchen. "We're having an Arcobaleno meeting."

There wasn't a lot to talk about at the meeting since the damage had already been done. Viper had offered the boy the chance to forget what he had seen, but Tsunayoshi had said he'd wanted to remember. He then asked everyone to stick to the same promise that he had made with Reborn.

None of them could refuse.

* * *

><p><strong>We all knew this chapter was coming at some point. And that point seems to be now. Can anyone remember where the quotes in italics came from? They were the hints I had placed in a previous chapter towards this event.<strong>

**Since this is the end of the Arc, we have our sentences to look at!**

_What a mother know, a scientist theorises, a psychic guesses and a martial artist does naturally. Whilst a stuntman tries his hardest, or a Jailer does it with superiority, Soldiers keep on going and a hitman works around it._

**This was originally supposed to be about the Arcobaleno learning how to look after Tsunayoshi as a baby- like learning how to change and feed him and such- but I suppose it fits with looking after the small child too.**

**I hope to see you next time for the next slightly more action packed arc.**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 18 October 2012**


	47. Omake C Mysterious Moments

Chapter 47:

Omake C: Mysterious Moments.

**Thank you all for being so understanding about the events that happened last chapter.**

**And for those who were wondering, the three quotes that were left aligned and italics were quotes from chapter 29, where Verde gets seriously injured protecting Tsunayoshi from the Robot. At the end of the chapter, Reborn asks Tsunayoshi those three questions, hinting at that chapter. The italics and centred part was purely a memory that Tsuna gave Tsunayoshi, hence it's need to be centred. Hope that clears some things up.**

**For now, enjoy the End of Arc Omakes!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any anime or manga mentioned in this chapter!**

* * *

><p><strong>A mysterious moment in markers.<strong>

"_Can you place this up there for me?"_

Tsunayoshi looked up at the cork notice board and gapes at the rainbow of colours. There was every colour from red to blue to pure white and most of them corresponded with the colour that he imagined each Arcobaleno to be: The one in his hand about Colonnello was blue in colour.

But you know what, they were boring.

He couldn't read what was written on them yet- he'd only learnt numbers so far- but still they looked boring. They were about going places weren't they? Going places was fun! These needed to be made fun too.

But what to do… what to do…

There wasn't a lot he could do but there was one thing he was good at. So taking the nearest available pen, Tsunayoshi got to work drawing pictures of each of the Arcobaleno. He wanted them to be fun, so he didn't do a portrait of them. His drawing wasn't that good yet anyway. But there was this image he had of them that was perfect for livening the notes up.

"_Those are the Arcobaleno. The Mafia's Strongest 7 Infants."_

Tsunayoshi giggles to himself over the image that came to mind. The strongest 7 infants? That was crazy. That belonged in a story book. Although he did have to admit that the image in his head made them all look rather cute.

He didn't know why he had such a clear image of it either. The imagination must work that way…But that didn't matter. What did matter was that the doodles of the Arcobaleno in a chibi-baby form was exactly what this notice board needed. Plus they'd be able to find their own notes quicker.

So he starts with the PostIt note in his hand, drawing Colonnello with his bandana and his riffle. Once done, he places it where Luce had told him to before picking up the next one- a red one for Fon. Every time he finished drawing on the PostIt note, he placed it exactly back where he had found it. The blank white ones were for Bermuda, which didn't fit him, but Luce didn't have a white pen to write on black ones. Plus drawing Bermuda in black ink was suitable. There was another thing that didn't link up between the pictures in his head and the image of the people he knew, and that was Lal. The picture in his head gave her scars on her cheek, yet Lal didn't have any scars. He left them out. It took him a little while, but as concentrated on his job as he was, tongue poking out due to his focus, the time literally flew by. But he finished it, everything back where it should be, and took a look over his work.

There, that was better.

As we all know, Bermuda took a photo of his own doodle and used it as his phone's wallpaper. The other Arcobaleno all had similar ideas. And whenever they were working in here (at the point of being bored yet knowing they should be working), their eyes drifted towards the notice board and it made them smile despite the mundane tasks they were supposed to be doing. Everyone found the images rather endearing, especially since each PostIt note was of them in different poses. Tsunayoshi had really gone to town on them.

And whilst Bermuda loved it and the sentiment, it was also something more to him. It being as his wallpaper reminded him every time of his promise, of his goals and of his revenge. The Vindice refused to look at it after the first time, for they had all been in that position before and didn't need the reminder. Their broken rotting bodies were more than enough of a reminder. Bermuda was not going to let these images become a reality. He was not going to let these people become like the rest of his Family. No one he knew would be turning into a baby for real if he could help it. He swore it.

**A Mysterious Moment in Illness.**

_"Verde Power!" Tsunayoshi cheers as the vials go flying. Reborn shakes his head as he is reminded of a show about planets and princesses and the moon. Of course he wouldn't know about a girly show like that. It wasn't as if Luce had been ill one week and forced him to watch every single season of it. Of course he had escaped…_

Oh God she felt horrible. Whatever had she done to deserve this? Her throat was sore, she could hardly swallow, she had used enough tissues to pretend that it was snowing in the room and her head felt like she'd seen the future three times in succession.

Luce was ill.

She thinks she had gotten it from Aria, who had gotten it from Tozaru who had gotten it from Genkishi and so the list went on. It didn't matter who had had it before, the fact was that she had it now. And she hated it. Verde, Bless him, had done the best that he could. But as was with most colds, flus and other such diseases, he said it was best to take this medicine and let the cold take its course.

But she wasn't allowed to be ill! Being ill meant staying in bed and doing nothing all day. Being ill meant sleeping it off. It meant that she couldn't help any of the others, she couldn't look after them, she couldn't do ANYTHING! And it was going to drive her insane. This was worse than the punishments the Arcobaleno gave her when she did something wrong (due to the Bag being useless on her, nor did anyone want to touch the thing). Who would make sure that Viper ate something? Who would make sure that Verde was alive after not appearing for more than 20 hours? Who would place bandages on Skull's injuries? Who would tell Reborn off?! Who would… Who would look after Tsunayoshi! She'd wake up one day and the little boy would be a wreck.

That's it, she had to get out of this bed no matter what. Even if she only laid on the sofa and listened to everything around her, it would be miles better than simply lying in bed and not knowing what was happening. Luce **needed** to know what was happening. So in her little flower print pyjamas and a blanket in her arms, she set off down stairs to lie on the sofa. She collapsed onto it the moment she arrived. When had walking down the stairs given her such a headache? Stupid cold.

So she lays there, listening to the sounds the others were making. Silence. Oh, that's right, the rest were out today, taking Tsunayoshi somewhere or other, or on their own personal assignments. Now she was lonely. Lonely and Ill. She slowly drags herself over to the television and inserts a DVD. Yeah, Sailor Moon would do. It was easy to watch, funny yet romantic and heart wrenching at times. It had a bit of everything. And it was long enough to last the duration of her cold. What better show was there to watch when ill?

But it was still lonely.

"_Oh, who's that Hunk Muffin?" _says the girl on the TV, heart-eyes locked on a tall handsome man in a suit and a top hat…

"Hn, I'm back."

The moment a tall, handsome man wearing a suit and a hat walked in the door, Luce pounced on him. Finally some company!

"Reborn~ come and watch this with me. You need a break!" Luce said as best as her croaky voice would allow. She had her hands locked around Reborn's arm, her head on his shoulder and her body leaning against him. Ahh, finally someone to sit with. Luce never liked being alone.

Reborn looked horrified. There were girls in sailor outfits, magical powers and some of the weirdest love confessions he had ever seen. Did it matter she was a princess? With that whiney bratty attitude, definitely not. And who fought for Love and Justice? That girl needed a reality check. Even if her powers were real, she'd be eaten alive by the Mafia, and Reborn would laugh as he watched. Even the VCubed were more realistic than that.

He needed to get away and drink a coffee. He couldn't sit here and watch this any longer… If Luce hadn't decided to change positions and lay down with her head on his lap. It gave her less of a headache that way and the throbbing of her nose stopped. And no matter how much he tried, he couldn't push her off. Not that he really wanted to. Luce looked so small compared to the volume of the blankets around her; She looked rather vulnerable with her puffy eyes and red nose. He… he couldn't do it. Not to her.

But then he looked back at the TV and remembered just _who_ he was watching this show with. Luce, the woman who was very close to a fangirl, the malleable Luce who was influenced by any idea. Luce, who took the craziest ideas and demanded that they be made into a reality.

_Princess_ Luce of the Black Lilly Family.

And here he was in a black suit and a hat, with his lady-killer good looks, his suave style, and irresistible charm.

"_When you're uncertain or worried, I'll be there for you. I may have no power, but you called me here to you. If you need me... ...I'll give you... the strength of my soul."_

Luce didn't have a mask in her Bag, did she? Or any roses?

"You know Luce, I am never EVER going to say something as stupid as that. Get that thought out of your head right this instant." Reborn growls, pulling the fedora down as low as it would do. He'd rather die than say that, or any of the other stupid stuff that this guy was spouting. How could Luce even watch this? Luce looks up at him, eyes sparkling due to the cold… at least he hopes so. That pout isn't helping either. "I said NO!"

He couldn't even just sit here and doze off since Luce kept on asking him his opinion on something and got mad whenever he didn't give a proper contextual answer. And an ill angry Luce was worse than a normally angry Luce.

"_We have to help her with all of the strength that we have left!"_

"_Mercury Power"_

"_Venus Power"_

"_Mars Power"_

"_Jupiter Power"_

"_Saturn Power"_

"_Uranus Power"_

"_Pluto Power"_

"_Sailor Moon, we trust in you. We know you can do it."_

"If you made the Arcobaleno with some weird hope of re-enacting that scene then you are going to have a very long wait." Reborn growls once more. Luce makes a sad noise in the back of her throat but doesn't argue with him. Nor did she point out the similarities between that scene and the ones with Iemitsu and Bermuda. Nope, they weren't similar at all…

Reborn wanted out. He wasn't going to sit here a moment longer. He tried pushing her off, he tried asking her to move. He even tried to stand up. But Luce, damn ninja, had sewn his suit to the fabric of the sofa! How was he supposed to get out unless he undressed! Hmm, it wasn't going to be easy, but walking around in his boxers for a few moments was far better than losing his pride and being found watching this foolish show by the others. And anyway, just how many episodes were there?

They'd been sat here for nearly a week now. He was the only one without assignments to do, everyone else was busy. He'd tried to run away but Luce had somehow managed to find him before he could. And then she'd taken Leon hostage! He couldn't leave the chameleon to suffer alone, no matter how much he wanted to. But this show was going to drive him insane. It was depleting his huge stores of manliness. It was-

"Reborn." Luce muttered, drawing the blankets up to her shoulders. "Thank you for being here with me."

Well send him to hell in a hand basket. What was he supposed to say to that?

Nothing. Instead he'd just stroke Luce's hair until she fell asleep again. There was nothing else he could do.

**Mysterious Moments in Magic.**

_All the customers who had seen ESPer Mammon yesterday had been very nice actually. Very Nice…_

"That woman annoys me. Never showing her face and the room covered in drapes. I bet she's a fake."

"Hmm, that could be true. She's never done any Television appearances."

"Or magazine articles."

"I bet she gets all her money for people wanting to see her face."

"Haahaa, yeah, I bet it's damn ugly too."

The women head towards the door leading to ESPer Mammon. They all had psychic stalls of their own, but people were going to her instead due to her famousness.

Just as they were about to grab the door handle and barge in, a figure came out of the shadows. He was wearing a red-purple cloak and a tall pointy Wizard hat on his head with stars imprinted on it. He had a long fluffy grey beard too, in contrast to the black curly sideburns he had. His shoes were long with the toes curling up in a similar fashion to his sideburns.

"Kyaaa! Look it's Forebornian! His Fortune telling skills are the best."

"Oh please Mr. Forebornian! Tell us our fortunes!"

Forebornian looked the girls over, stroking his beard that seemed to get longer and longer with each stroke. Suddenly he claps his hands and a green crystal ball is floating between his palms. It suddenly starts to glow in multiple colours before the fortune teller reports in a grave voice.

"Enter that room and darkness shall befall upon you all. You should leave this place in 5 seconds and never come near her, or else your pride won't be the only thing to die. Mention her name and a curse shall be bestowed upon you. She had spirits far greater than your power can defeat protecting her."

The girls look on, their eyes wide in fear, their knees shaking as they held each other.

"Three." Forebornian says in a warning tone.

The girls blink.

"Two."

The girls turn to look at each other, noticing the look of terror the other one has.

"One."

Running as fast as they could, the pair push and trip over the other customers as the fair.

Forebornian strokes his beard in satisfaction before stepping backwards into the shadows.

He wanted Tsunayoshi's experience to be a good one today.

**A Mysterious Moment in Stalking**

_"You know it always amazes me how much like Reborn you are, despite how much you claim not to be. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery some say."_

Colonnello had a day off today. One of the finest luxuries one could ever receive. Especially when it was a day off from the hellish training of the COMSUBIN. Lal was the devil in disguise he swore. But the annoying thing was, he couldn't spend it with the person he wanted to. Lal was busy still training everyone else and Tsunayoshi… Tsunayoshi was going out with Fon today.

So Colonnello ate his breakfast with the small boy, watched him come down in his version of Fon's robes and leave the house together with the martial artist with a bounce a pogo stick would be envious of. Not long after Colonnello gets bored, so he goes out to his (not so) secret training spot and starts his warm ups. After that he faces a tree and starts practicing some of his hand to hand combat moves.

It wasn't like Tsunayoshi was going to get attacked by the other martial artists there.

After finishing up his usual set of moves, Colonnello moves onto the next bit of training. Picking some leaves up he calls out to his Partner, Falco. The bird grabs the dried leaves from his palm before rising back into the empty area of the clearing. Colonnello assembles his riffle with practiced ease, before climbing a tree and finding a sturdy branch. That was easy since the trees in this area had been imported old trees with lots of strong, wide branches the he could either lay or stand on. Laying down on a suitable branch and taking aim through the sight, he calls out to the Hawk to start the training exercise.

One by one, Falco drops the dried up leaves. They spiral down on an ever twisting and spiralling path, pushed around by the wind's whims. Since they were always moving it was hard to train the riffle on them, but Colonnello still did it. His targets wouldn't always be asleep or sitting down.

It wasn't as if Tsunayoshi was going to be attacked by a group of bandits on the rural pathway and Fon would be too busy dealing with half of them to protect Tsunayoshi.

Colonnello keeps on repeating the process until no more leaves fall from the sky. With that done he drops to the ground and disassembles his riffle, taking care to clean the parts as he does so. Having a dirty weapon meant an increase in it becoming faulty. Not only could it backfire and hurt him, it could stop him from being able to protect someone else when they needed it most.

Next Colonnello takes out two knives and stands in the middle of the clearing, settling down in a crouch. He went through the drilled-in patterns of movements, seeing an opponent in front of him in his mind's eye.

It wasn't as if Tsunayoshi was going to get tangled up in a patch of poisonous vines due to his clumsiness.

AHH! He couldn't take it anymore. Running back into the house, he goes to the notice board and finds the address for where Fon was taking Tsunayoshi today. Before Luce and the others can ask where he's going in such a hurry, Colonnello leaves the house and runs down to the docks. He jumps into the power boat that belonged to the COMSUBIN and takes off at full speed, flooding the docks with the spray. Grr, why did the COMSUBIN have to be Frogmen? Why couldn't they be Birdmen? Then they'd have a helicopter at their disposal and he could get there quicker.

As it is, reckless driving on both water and land gets Colonnello there to hear something rather endearing.

"_Can we do it Colonnello's way?"_

Colonnello had to check that his sound equipment was working. Maybe he should get a little closer. Maybe a little bit more. Hmm, a little more wouldn't hurt.

When the music starts up, Colonnello looks through his binoculars and is proud to see Tsunayoshi defending and promoting the way they do their warm ups. He is annoyed, however, and a little disappointed, when Tsunayoshi doesn't start to do _their _normal warm up, but the one he'd seen him do with Fon. But at least Tsunayoshi was smiling. That was the important thing.

Colonnello was rather impressed with Tsunayoshi's skill and dedication. Never once did he complain that this was easy. And Colonnello knew it to be so since he'd seen Tsunayoshi do far more complex moves. Nor did he whine at the slow pace. Instead he focused intently on the numbers Fon was droning out, and on getting the moves to be as perfect as possible. Colonnello watched as Tsunayoshi perfected his balance until he didn't even wobble once. Tsunayoshi also worked on his fingers and toes, pointing them out and extending his arms and legs in a similar way to a dancer's.

It looked pretty in Colonnello's opinions. Graceful too. It was nothing like the harsh street-style fighting he and Lal did. And Colonnello knew that this graceful style packed a good hard punch too. His spars against Fon every now and again were tough. And Fon still looked good whilst doing it.

~_Nice tension, pay attention~_

_Oh snap, _Colonnello thought as he snapped out of his watching. He needed to get out of here before Fon recognised the car parked nearby or the boat at the small docks.

_~go-go ready go-go!~_

Go, go, indeed, Colonnello mentally shouted, scrambling down the tree and making his way through the bushes towards where the car was parked. Getting inside he quickly starts the engine and drives off before anyone could notice him. Phew, that was a close one.

He makes it back home with enough time to run back into the forest and cover himself in mud before Fon and Tsunayoshi get back.

"You know it always amazes me how much like Reborn you are, despite how much you claim not to be. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery some say." Fon says with a knowing smile as Colonnello re-enters the house.

Colonnello bristled. Comparing him to Reborn! That was an insult in the highest form. But it was still annoying the Fon had noticed him. He'd made no outwards sign to show he knew that Colonnello was watching them. He hadn't even looked in the soldier's direction once.

And Tsunayoshi had looked like he was having a lot of fun today.

"He looks up to you a lot, you know. Whenever he gets the closest he ever gets to being stressed, he goes out onto the garden and practices those movements of yours. I think you're a source of calm and stability to him, especially with how whacko us lot are." Colonnello looks down at Tsunayoshi with a twisting feeling in his heart.

No he couldn't be… **jealous…** could he?

What Colonnello doesn't realise is that Tsunayoshi does indeed find them both calming. Fon was a calm person that let very little shake him, his calmness was contagious and just what someone needed to let go of their stress or anger. But the reason that Tsunayoshi didn't go out into the garden to stare up at trees was because the view of the sky wasn't as good as from their own secret hideout. So all that left him with was the repetitious movements Fon had taught him.

But Collonello forgets all instances of jealousness as Tsunayoshi rolls over and grabs his arm in his sleep. Nothing could be better.

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><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed it!<strong>

**I'll admit that I made most of the Sailor Moon quotes up, only one of them is real. And I spent ages trying to decide on a good name for Psychic Reborn. Forebornian is pronounced as For-Reborn-ian, as in fortune. I couldn't think of anything nearly as good as what Amano-sensei makes up.**

**And talking of, didn't Sensei do a good job with the Psycho-Pass character designs? As soon as I saw the poster for it I knew it was Sensei's work. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 21 October 2012**


	48. When something Important

Mafia Row

Chapter 48: When Something Important

I want to apologise for not answering back to your reviews and PMs recently. University had been driving me up the wall and stealing all of my fanfiction time away. I have like 3 pages of chapter alerts in my inbox that I haven't read. And whilst I shouldn't technically be writing this chapter, I needed to take a break from working.

I would like to thank **Stalker of Reactions** for the initial idea for this arc (an extreeeeeeeemely long time ago), along with anyone else who suggested similar ideas.

To the **Guest** who commented on the birthday chapter: I hope you had a good birthday! It's funny that you mention that idea. It was suggested a very long time ago, so I'm already one step ahead of you. You'll see what I mean sooon, kufufu~

To the **Guest** who posted last chapter: I'll make sure to put the Hitman meeting in for you.

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><p>"Wow! That's so pretty!" Tsunayoshi gapes, watching as the lotus blossom bloomed in Mukuro's hand. "You're getting better each time I see you!"<p>

"Kufufu~ Thank you for the compliment, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro bows his head in acceptance of the praise before closing his fist and letting the petals fall to the ground.

"Ahh, I want to see flowers again, byon. A roll in the grass would be so good!" Day-dreams Ken, tongue lolling out to the side of his mouth as he stares into space. Tsunayoshi and Chrome giggle whilst Chikusa sighs.

"I'm sure there will be lots of grass once you're out of here." Tsunayoshi reassures. He blinks as the floor of Ken's cell flickers green and a ghostly image of grass appears for a few moments. It flashes into view a couple of times, getting weaker with each appearance before disappearing completely. Tsunayoshi reaches through the bars to check that Chrome is okay when she falls against them.

"Chrome, that was sweet. I've never seen you cast an illusion that big before!" he praises. Since he can't hug her due to the bars between them, he settles for wiping the sweat away from her brow and patting her on the head. She smiles in thanks before laying down using Mukurowl for a pillow.

"Well done, My dearest Chrome." Mukuro says softly, smiling down at her.

Tsunayoshi glances down at his watch and pouts. " Aww, I have to go now. Mammon's due back from her mission any time now." He stands up and heads for the doorway.

"Bye, byon!" waves Ken, with Chikusa nodding in agreement.

"We shall see you soon, My _precious_ Tsunayoshi." Smirks Mukuro. Tsunayoshi gives them a wave goodbye before knocking on the door.

It opens and the guard lets him out before checking that the experiments were still in their cells. A scream fills the air and Tsunayoshi shudders. Whenever he was in that room, the screams never reached him, but the moment he left they came back full force. Tsunayoshi didn't like the Estraneo one bit. He'd never set foot in here if Mukuro, Chrome, Ken and Chikusa weren't trapped here. He was going to get them out of here, he promised.

Running is quickly as he can, he exits the Estraneo house before turning down the street. It felt so much better to be out of there. The house had this weird coppery smell that he didn't want to be reminded of. As he takes in a deep breath he starts to jog down the road in the direction of the Varia's house.

Over the past few months the Arcobaleno had been letting Tsunayoshi spend more and more time out of the house by himself. It wasn't like he could go anywhere and it had been made clear that Tsunayoshi belonged to the Arcobaleno. No one wanted to offend them by harming Tsunayoshi, knowing it was a one way slow trip to hell. Plus they were all enamoured by the small child anyway. Having been training him for so long now, Tsunayoshi could defend himself long enough to shout out for help if he ever was in trouble. Fon had taught the boy places to press to make arms and legs go numb and stop working. And finally, they had gotten annoyed with Tsunayoshi's constant pleas to leave the house.

"Heh-hey! Peace Tsunayoshi, what's got your panties in a twist?" asks Longchamp, about to return into his house with Pantera standing behind.

"Mammon's going to come back soon!" Tsunayoshi replies, stopping in his jog to talk to the Mafia Heir.

"Awesome! She should come round one day. I've got these spiked leather gloves that'd look rockin' on her!" The boy smiles broadly before ducking under a pinwheel thrown by Pantera. "That's the spirit Pantera, let's go do some target practice. See you around Tsunayoshi!"

Tsunayoshi nods with a strained smile on his face. He did not like the sound of those gloves, they wouldn't suit Viper at all. He sighs when he sees the internal carnage going on inside the house, but decides to ignore it. He needed to get back to the Varia house.

He continues on on his little walk, taking a curious glance to the side when the sound of a gate opening reaches his ears.

"Ah, Tsunayoshi-sama!" Shouts Hayato, running over to where Tsunayoshi was.

"Good morning Hayato!" Tsunayoshi says back, looking happy to see his friend again. "Where are you off to?" He takes a glance behind the pianist to see a household maid waiting patiently for them to finish.

"We were going out to buy some snacks for our meeting later! Is there anything that you wish for Tsunayoshi-sama? I'll make sure to get the best." Hayato leans forwards expectantly, waiting for whatever words fell from Tsunayoshi's lips. This boy had cheered him up at his darkest moment and remained his light in the dark. It was only natural that he'd try to make Tsunayoshi happy in return.

"Yeah, I'm looking forwards to it!" Tsunayoshi replies. He thinks about Hayato's question, sticking a finger to his lips in thought. "Hmm… I don't want to be a bother…"

"It won't be a bother at all!" Assures Hayato.

"Well... could you get some pocky sticks? Haru showed them to me yesterday and they were really nice. I'm sure you'd like them too. You can get them from Takesushi."

"Of course Tsunayoshi-sama! If you like them then I'm sure that they are delicious." Beams Hayato, writing the items down on his hand with a pen that appeared from nowhere. Tsunayoshi really wanted to learn that skill.

"We should be on our way then Young Master, or else you shall be late for your lesson with Master Shamal." Prompts the maid, looking down at her own watch.

"Bye Hayato! See you later." Says Tsunayoshi before running off. If he didn't then Hayato wouldn't stop talking and he'd be late for his lesson.

But there's something weird going on at the Bovino house. Not that anything normal ever happened there, but this was certainly something new. All of the Mafioso who lived there were piling out onto the street whilst the house spewed a bright blue coloured smoke. The smoke seemed like the pink smoke he'd seen once before, but was almost the opposite colour. He wondered what it came from.

"Tori, what's wrong? Do you want me to get Verde?" asks Tsunayoshi after finding the man in the crowd. That smoke didn't look good. The last time he had seen that much smoke was when Viper had last snuck into the kitchen to cook. There was a reason that she never cooked them dinner like the others did. Viper could burn a pot of water.

"Oh no, there is no reason for that. I know exactly what went wrong this time. I was not expecting such a reaction to occur, however. The house shall be safe. The smoke isn't even harmful, it's just too opaque to see through." Tsunayoshi nods his head slowly, a silent 'oh' forming in his lips before his attention is torn away by Lambo.

"Lambo wants sleep!" Tsunayoshi laughs. Lambo seemed to have bed hair, if that was even possible, and weary eyes. He must have just been woken from his nap.

"Here Lambo, have this." Tsunayoshi reaches into his pocket and grabs the candy sitting there. Kyoko had given it to him this morning when Tsunayoshi had been at the gym with Lal for an early morning swimming lesson.

Lambo's eyes light up, tantrum dissipating for now, and snatches the sweet with hands like lightning bolts. Before Tsunayoshi can even blink the sweet had been unwrapped and stuck inside the child's mouth. With Lambo now pleased, Tsunayoshi leaves before Tori can start giving him statistics and drawing a graph to represent how many times the Bovino make a mistake in their work. Despite knowing these figures, the Bovino never actually took them into account and acted on it. The gift that they had gotten him for his birthday had done something totally different from what the note said it should have done.

Finally making it to the Varia house, he lets himself in. As the door closes behind him, he leans against it and takes a deep breath. That walk had been busier than he had expected. But now he had to concentrate. He swore that the Varia's garden was filled with more traps every time he visited. It was, the Prince didn't like the fact that the Kitty made it through so easily each time. It was an offence to the Prince's genius!

After dodging wires, bullets, knives and axes he finally makes it to the front door where Belphegor is waiting.

"Shishishi, the Kitty looked like he had fun ruining the Prince's hard work." Belphegor laughs with a razor sharp, slightly malicious grin. Tsunayoshi lays on the step below Belphegor before panting and trying to catch his breath.

"Ha… you did…ha… a really good…ha… job, your Highness." Tsunayoshi says as he rolls onto his back to stare up at the Prince. Viper had tried to tell Tsunayoshi that Belphegor wasn't really a prince, but Tsunayoshi refused to hear it. If Bel said he was, then that's what Tsunayoshi would call him. Plus Bel had given Tsunayoshi a nickname, so he could just say he was returning the favour.

Belphegor laughs once more before leaning down and patting Tsunayoshi's hair like he really was a kitten.

"Hn, little bro's here. Belphegor why didn't you try harder this time? You knew he was coming." asks Levi, leaning against the open door way. Tsunayoshi waves a greeting but is too busy catching his breath to actually verbalise one.

"Kaching! Dare to mock the Prince?" growls Bel, flicking one of his knives in Levi's direction. Levi leans forwards so that the decorative knife thunks into the door frame instead. Belphegor's smile turns mischievous as he turns back to Tsunayoshi. The Varia might be the only people in Mafia Row to joke about trying to kill Tsunayoshi. He knew they were completely serious though. The Varia set their traps at a higher level each time, making sure that Tsunayoshi stayed Varia Quality. And in their opinion, that meant life threatening situations- none of them had interest in anything less than that. It wasn't challenging enough otherwise.

"Is Mammon, Big Brother Xanxus, Big Bro Squalo and Big Sis Lussuria back yet?" asks Tsunayoshi, finally sitting up. He had gotten used to calling Viper Mammon in front of other people, especially the Varia.

Levi shakes his head. "Boss said that there were some added complications and that they wouldn't be getting back until midnight."

"Ahh, Mammon's not back until Midnight? Who else shall share the Prince's strawberry ice cream!" demands Belphegor wearing a princely pout. "Fine. The Prince shall just eat it all himself. She shall have to beg at my feet if she wants any."

Tsunayoshi giggles at Belphegor's words, knowing that almost the exact opposite would happen. Instead, Belphegor would sit on the arm of her chair and whine until she allowed him to feed her the ice cream. "I had better go then if she's not coming back until later." Tsunayoshi sighs before standing up. Belphegor places a hand on Tsunayoshi's arm and holds him in place whilst trying to supress giggles.

"We'll see you later when Boss returns then." Levi says, pushing off the door frame to stand up straight. Tsunayoshi nods in agreement so Levi turns around. "Ouch! Belphegor!" Levi growls. What had happened was that when Bel had thrown the knife earier on he had hooked the handle of one of Levi's unbrellas. Levi leaning forwards meant that it came out of it's holder. As Levi had turned around, Bel had pulled on another wire, drawing the umbrella backwards before letting it drop and slam into Levi's face, giving him a shock at the same time.

Belphegor finally lets his supressed laughter out, pointing a finger at Levi as he rolls around on the floor. "Serves the peasant right for insulting the Prince!" Levi growls before taking a swipe at Belphegor. The child jumps up and runs off a little way out of Levi's range before turning around and sticking his tongue out. That enrages Levi further and a game of chase ensues. Tsunayoshi laughs at their antics before walking back down the path to the gate. At least this time he knew where the traps were.

Leaving the house he turns to return home.

"Excuse mi! Excuse mi!" Hmm, that was a voice he'd never heard before. And what a weird accent. He turns towards the forest where the voice had come from. "Ah, I've gotten mi foot stuck. You think you could 'elp mi?"

Tsunayoshi, ever helpful and wanting to please Tsunayoshi, walks into the forest.

* * *

><p>Viper walks into the Arcobaleno house at one in the morning, wiping off the strawberry ice cream that Bel had gotten everywhere. No matter how much she refused, Belphegor kept on trying until he got what he wanted.<p>

The strange thing was that everyone was still up. Even stranger was the sight of the Gokudera's boy child curled up asleep on one of the arm chairs. All eyes in the room turn to her when she enters. They then turn to the space behind her and then on through the door.

"Is he having trouble removing his shoes?" asks Fon, standing up to go and help.

"What do you mean? It's just me." Says Viper, confused.

The already strained atmosphere in the room turns to ice. The Arcobaleno turn to one another, adding that to the information that Hayato had brought.

"Why? What's wrong?" asks Viper, getting worried by the looks on the Arcobaleno's faces.

"We really hoped that he was with you." Mumbles Luce, biting her lip. She looks up at Viper. "You see, the thing is…"

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><p><strong>Bwahaha! Cliff-hanger! I think this may be Mafia Row's first cliff-hanger. I hope you like it, hehehe .<strong>

*****Spoiler for the latest KHR chapter*** OMG a wedding! How adorable is that? I love Colonnello's face in the panel where Reborn reminds Tsuna that Lal is now an adult. It looks like he's day dreaming and almost drooling over seeing Lal dressed like that, hehe. **

**See you next time- assuming I'm not buried under a pile of books. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 25 October 2012**

**Small edit 26/10/12**

_No notes today since it gives my plot away._


	49. Omake D: Scardy-cats' Stroll

Mafia Row:

Omake D: Scardy-cats' Stroll

**Someone asked for a Halloween chapter so here one is…**

**For obvious reasons we're going back to a date closer to Tsuna's birthday and before the last chapter happened.**

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><p>The October air was cold as Skull and Tsunayoshi got back from one of Skull's gigs. Even now, hours later, Skull was still going on about how awesome he had been today. With the occasional comments about how awesome Tsunayoshi was too, of course. Tsunayoshi let him parade on, smiling over the fact that Skull was proud of himself for once. It was a nice change to see him like this rather than the meek person that was kicked into submission at home. Not that Tsunayoshi would change Skull, but it was still nice to see this side of him. He reckons that he's going to have to steal Skull's helmet and see if it had any special qualities… Or maybe it was the motorcycle? He wouldn't be able to test that theory out for a long time yet, he couldn't even reach the handle bars yet let alone the footrests.<p>

When they arrived home, no one was there, not even Luce. Skull seemed to accept this and took Tsunayoshi upstairs and into his room. There on the bed were lots of items of clothing along with some paint and other things.

"Skull, what's this for?" asks Tsunayoshi, holding up a set of manacles with chains dangling down from them.

"They are for our Halloween costumes." Skull replies, placing his helmet down on the dresser before unzipping the leather jacket.

"What's Halloween? Did Luce invent it so she could dress up?" asks Tsunayoshi, noticing that there were some clothes that were his size too.

Skull freezes for a moment, truly considering the question. Then his brain catches up and he realises how stupid that thought was. All Hallows Eve had been around longer than Luce had, of course it had. How silly was he to think Luce invented it just for the purpose of having a viable reason to dress everyone up. Yeah, silly him. So he explains the history of the day to the small boy whilst they get changed.

"It sounds scary." Tsunayoshi comments, pulling on a boot.

"HAHAHA! Halloween isn't scary!" Laughs Skull in an obnoxious manner. "It's fun, not scary at all. Don't worry, The Immortal Skull from Hell shall protect you!"

To be honest Skull's outfit didn't change much. It was actually one of his old suits that was covered in rips and blood due to an accident he had had in it a few years back. He kept it just for Halloween so that he didn't have to destroy a perfectly good suit. Add in some chains and a good covering of dirt and it gave new meaning to being someone the Reaper rejected. At least here the Reaper rejected him whilst he was alive, if he was rejected when dead then he'd really be a zombie.

Once finished getting changed, he turnes to look at what Tsunayoshi had been given to wear. Luce had continued her love of animal themes (or just an unhealthy obsession with fake fur, she'd never use the real stuff) and had chosen a werewolf costume for Tsunayoshi. He was currently in the middle of paining his face brown, and his hands as a result of not using a brush, in Skull's dresser mirror. In addition to the paint, Tsunayoshi had on fluffy ears, a dog collar with a chain hanging off of it, fluffy shirt and trousers and even boots made out of the same fur. Still on the bed were some gloves with red painted claws and a small set of fangs. Whilst Tsunayoshi was busy painting his face, Skull knelt down behind him and attached the fur tail where it was supposed to go.

If it wasn't for the fact that the fur was matted or missing in some areas, Tsunayoshi would have looked more like a dog than a werewolf, but he would suffice. Once the pair are finished they head down stairs and lock the front door. As they walk down the garden path, Tsunayoshi keeps on tripping up, but not due to the boots.

"Why did Luce make this chain so long?" huffs Tsunayoshi, trying to decide whether to wrap it around his waist or neck.

Skull had been wondering the same thing too actually. "Here, let me hold it." He had an idea what it was for. It was quite literally a leash so that Tsunayoshi wouldn't run off and get lost at the party. It was kindly being held at the Vendicare, but there were still things in that place that Tsunayoshi shouldn't see. Plus, he suspected that Luce liked the idea of a zombie and werewolf combo.

Now that Tsunayoshi could walk without tripping every few steps, the pair open the Arcobaleno House Gate. As the gate booms closed behind them, the moon disappears behind a cloud, casting the world around them into shadow. Skull, having remembered the torch (the many postit notes around the house wouldn't let him forget it) he flicks it on so they can see where they are going. It was amazing how dark it could get in just half an hour. It was a complete contrast to when they had arrived back on the island.

The wind rushed through the trees with dried leaves, creating a rustling sound that urge the pair onwards.

"HEEII! W-w-what was that?" asks Tsunayoshi, voice quivering just as much as his pointing finger. Skull flashed the light in that direction, but nothing was there. "I was, I was sure that something m-moved." Assures Tsunayoshi, still clinging tightly to Skull's trouser leg.

Placing a comforting hand on the boy's back, Skull starts to walk again. All the houses' lights are turned off, and there is barely any lights from the odd streetlamps. Even those street lamps that are working flicker as if they are about to die out.

They arrive at the intersection with Mafia Row Central, and the pair take an absent look around in boredom. As they look towards the docks, they can see the sea, a lighter colour than the surrounding darkness, reflecting what little light the hidden moon was providing. And providing the prefect background to the dripping shadow that was climbing out of the sea.

It looks up and spots them, reaching out one large deformed arm that was quickly spilling muscle onto the docks. It moans out a groan that sounds like their names.

"HEEEIII!" "YAAAAAAHH!" The pair scream before running even quicker towards the Vendicare. That shadow hadn't even looked human! Lots of people died at sea, maybe it was one of them coming to haunt! Vengeful spirits weren't always picky on who they took revenge on!

When the lights of the Vendicare were a lot closer than before, the pair stop running and take in some deep breaths. A quick look behind shows that the monster wasn't following them. In fact there probably wasn't even a monster, it was most likely just their imagination playing tricks on them. That's what Halloween did to the mind, play tricks.

Until they hear a blood curdling scream coming from the Estraneo house.

Screaming once more they run for the safety of the Vendicare. _What_? Safety and Vendicare didn't EVER go in the same sentence. A trip there was anything but safe.

Once in the garden with the gate firmly shut behind them, they stop and catch their breath once more. Taking a look around isn't comforting. When Tsunayoshi had first come into this garden over a year ago, he had thought that the trees looked like Skeleton hands reaching for the sky and that had never been truer than tonight. But what was even worse was that the lanterns lighting the path weren't nice pretty metal once. They were decapitated heads with open mouths and empty eye sockets. And they looked real too. Skull wouldn't put it past the Vindice to use real heads either.

They pluck up the courage to walk the path to the front door. It opens before Skull's outstretched hand. Tsunayoshi pulls Skull inside, more then used to that. It was how the Vendicare door always opened if Tsunayoshi wasn't transported inside. There is no one to greet them at the entrance. The house is decorated in more cobwebs, chains and black drapes than usual. Also the candles had changed from white ones to blood red ones, throwing red light and black shadows around the room.

Skull and Tsunayoshi stumble forwards when someone pushed them from behind. Looking over their shoulders shows that no one is there. The carpet jerks under their feet, dragging them forwards no matter how many steps backwards they take. The eyes of the portraits follow them on their paths, causing Tsunayoshi to whimper and duck closer to Skull. Skull wishes he had someone to do the same with. He couldn't exactly hide behind Tsunayoshi.

"Ha-ha. Don't worry Tsunayoshi. It's just the others p-playing tricks on us, he-he." Skull attempts to reassure, but the quiver in his voice betrays him.

Knives come out of the gloom, striking the paintings all along the hallway. Blood slowly slips and drips from the paintings as moans and screams resonate through the corridor. Tsunayoshi was too busy staring at the blood to recognise the knives.

A figure steps out of the gloom, blood spilling from his neck. "Vvv-rrr-ooo-iii…" comes the groan, said so differently from it's usual intonation that it was unrecognisable. "Who has stolen my head?" Their eyes widen in shock as the figure points a sword at them. "Was it… you?"

The pair scream once more. Forget the moving carpet, they were taking the turning away from the talking body without a head. With a loud clatter chains come from the ceiling, the walls and the floor to create a web blocking their path.

**"Those who pass beyond here shall face Hell's Demons.**" A ghostly voice booms deeply. With the headless man coming up behind them, Skull and Tsunayoshi decide to take their chances with Hell's Demons. Ducking between the chains, the pair run down the dark hallway that was quickly filling up with mist the further down it they went. They pass a few turnings, but fear dictated that they keep on running straight.

But that was a mistake.

Out of the opaque mist comes some black worm like blobs, their gaping maws filled with row after row of sharp pointed teeth. Fear resonates twice through Tsunayoshi, once from his own fear and once from the fear of his intuition. He knew what these were, they were Ouroboros, truly Hell's Demons. They backpedal, scurrying to turn around and head back down the corridor. As they come to an intersection, two cream bone masks appear in the gloom, along with a nailed club and a chain-scythe. That left only one direction to head in.

The mist thins out, only to be replaced by floating sand particles. In their haste they tread on some bandages, pulling a small yet fat mummy towards them. They dodge before they can be squashed only to trip and slide on some… ice? Another push from phantom hands sends them flying at speed down the ice pathway. Burst after burst of different coloured smoke puffs in their faces. But that's not the scary bit. For inside each cloud of smoke were black cloaks ad top hats. But no bandages. Instead there are zombie like faces, flesh falling off of cheek bones, lips sewn shut, tongues sticking out of mouths, eyes dangling out of sockets.

Skull is screaming his head off, scared by the realness of all these images. But Tsunayoshi isn't scared at all. A little jolt maybe but no screams. His intuition says he doesn't need to be scared of these people. Respectful of their power, certainly, but not scared.

They bang through the large double doors where there is a whole array of monsters waiting for them. They skid to a halt at the centre of this circle, surrounded and ready to be eaten. As one, the group hungrily lean forwards.

_**"BOO!"**_

Tsunayoshi screams.

Skull faints.

Everyone laughs.

"Haahaa, Skull fainted again this year. What happened to his promise from last year?" asks a zombie that looked strangely like the Nuevo Boss.

A skeleton that had Mr. Sasagawa's head continues to laugh heartily. "He's never not going to faint on Halloween."

A sopping wet bed-sheet ghost walks over and holds a hand out to Tsunayoshi. "C'mon, we should get some food before the others eat it all."

Tsunayoshi takes the hand and lets the teen haul him up. "Dino, is that you? Why are you wet?"

The ghost rubs the back of its neck in embarrassment. "Haahaa, well I kind of got lost and ended up walking off the docks and into the sea. I called out for you to wait for me but you ran off."

Tsunayoshi laughs nervously too before looking at who was at the buffet table. At the end closest to him was a Mummy and an Ice Queen. The Mummy was stuffing his face as the Ice Queen was ordering discipline around the food. "Rauji, Adelheid, is that you?" asks Tsunayoshi, leaning forwards to get a better look at them.

"Yeah, it's us. Have you tried the eyeballs yet, they're delicious." confirms Rauji before holding out a meatball. Adelheid was too busy defending herself from Julie to make a comment

Tsunayoshi grimaces before moving on and seeing who else was at the party. He quickly spots a Demonic Prince and a Headless Horseman.

"Shishishi~ Did the Kitty enjoy the walk?" asks Belphegor, twirling a knife in his fingers.

Tsunayoshi nods. "It was really scary!" says Tsunayoshi, almost at tears from remembering it all. "I really like your costume, your Highness." Belphegor straightens up in his seat and polishes a knife on his lapel.

"Of course you would. The Prince always has the best attire."

Tsunayoshi turns from Belphegor to Squalo. "Wow! That must have taken ages Big Bro Squalo!" gapes Tsunayoshi, looking at how Squalo had made himself headless.

Squalo grins a shark's grin. "It was worth it."

Quickly moving on since there were lots of other people to see, he spots the Giegue leaning against the wall with glasses of red liquid in their hands. Their cream masks were the same ones that they usually wore, with a few alternations to their clothing to make them look like un-dead soldiers. He waves at them and they wave back. As he passes some of the Bovino, all going for a Frankenstein Scientist/Experiment look, he overhears them congratulating themselves on making a treadmill long enough to span the entrance hallway and how one of them was a genius for figuring out how to use the carpet instead of the usual rubber.

Suddenly there is a yank on the chair around his neck- Skull had let go of it when he had fainted earlier.

"Ahum-hum-hum. How do you like the party, Tsunayoshi?" asks a Devil dressed in white, eating skeleton shaped marshmallows.

"It's amazing Byakuran. Everyone's costumes are so cool!" replies Tsunayoshi, pointing around the room. There were a few… questionable outfits such as Elena dressed up as a Nun with a chainsaw. Tsunayoshi was also worried about the spanner sticking out of either side of Spanner's head, and the antenna sticking out of Shoichi's head where he'd dressed up as a robot.

A chain wrapps itself around Tsunayoshi's waist, stealing him away from the conversation and towards a corner of the room where the Vindice- now fully bandaged- and the Arcobaleno were sitting with drinks. Bermuda sets Tsunayoshi down on his lap, but Tsunayoshi is quickly stolen by Luce as soon as the chains are removed.

"Kyaa! Aren't you just the cutest werewolf in existence!" she cooed, hugging the life out of him.

Once he's out of the hug he glares at Viper. "Naughty Viper, scaring us like that!" he pouts. "Those Ouroboros were really really scary!" Viper shrugs and continues to count the cash in her hands.

Skull leans over and whispers into Tsunayoshi's ears. "That had better not be 100 Euro for every scream we made. She'd be a billionaire by now." Tsunayoshi nodded his head emphatically. Did they ever stop screaming?

"Scaring you's not that hard, even the children managed it." Says Reborn with his usual uppity smirk, chucking a thumb in the direction of Adelheid, Julie and Rauji.

Skull crosses his arms and pouts. "I'd used by my stores of manliness and courage earlier on at the Gig. I had nothing left!" he defends. He'd have to remember not to do a show on Halloween ever again.

"Maybe the Reaper rejects you from hell so he doesn't have to listen to you squealing every 5 seconds." Laughs Colonnello. The rest of the Arcobaleno laugh at the comment since it could be true.

"But Skull wouldn't be seeing all the monsters if he kept on fainting." Points out Tsunayoshi innocently, thinking he was defending Skull. The others just laugh harder, Colonnello having to hold his stomach to stop from laughing too much. Lal kicks him in the shin to make him stop, but it doesn't work, especially when she's hiding a laugh too. Tsunayoshi looks confused and goes to sit on Fon, who was politely hiding his smile behind his sleeve.

"I truly do not see why you were scared Skull. You knew it was just us the whole time, so reason dictates that there is nothing to be fearful of." Verde explains, pushing his glasses up. Verde didn't look any different from usual. Luce might have put some gel in his hair to make it more spiky than normal, and there was blood all over his lab coat, but to be honest, it wasn't the first time and surely not the last; Verde liked his dissections.

Skull wanted to argue, but Verde was fearless. Whether his cold hard reasoning left no room for illogical fear, or whether Verde had just experimented one too many times and removed the emotion altogether, Verde wasn't scared of anything. He would laugh at horror movies, stating how unscientific they were- apparently blood didn't splatter like that when that specific artery was cut- and he was always focused during Viper's Illusion Shooting games. Skull couldn't argue about fear with a man who didn't feel it, so he didn't even try.

"I think that maybe you should be praising Viper for the quality of her illusions instead of arguing over body functions." Comments Fon. Skull begrudgingly nods, Vipers illusions were very good. He'd be having nightmares for a week he swore. "However, I do believe that we should be keeping our voices down." They all look at Fon, who currently had a sleeping puppy in his lap. "He must have worn himself out." Fon smiles, stroking Tsunayoshi's hair calmingly. The Arcobaleno and Vindice nod before dispersing around the room instead of leaving the party early. Fon was quite content to sit here and watch instead.

By the end of the night, Fon is surrounded by a gaggle of sleeping children snoring loudly enough to wake the dead. It made Fon glad that Tsunayoshi didn't snore like some of the children did. He'd never get any peace otherwise.

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><p><strong>There we go, as promised, one Halloween chapter. Is it bad that I really got into writing this chapter? I quite enjoyed it. <strong>

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 28 October 2012**


	50. Has Gone Missing

Chapter 50:

Has Gone Missing

**I'm sorry for not posting a chapter on Thursday. However there has been a bereavement in my family recently- hence why I haven't posted a **_**How a Thief Changed the Mafia **_**chapter for 2 weeks either**_**. **_**I'm still kind of sad over it, so the quality of work (including the Halloween chapter) may not be as good as usual…**

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><p>"The thing is, Tsunayoshi hasn't come home yet. He was supposed to meet up with Hayato just after lunch with you, but he never showed up. We assumed that he was waiting at the Varia House for you to return home." Luce explains, taking a quick look back at the sleeping silver-haired child.<p>

"But Belphegor and Levi said that Tsunayoshi left their house as soon as they told him I'd be late." Viper explains, her brain not willing to make the connection it knows it should be making.

No one else wanted to face the probable reality either.

"H-ha-ha-ha, He's j-just staying somewhere else, r-right?... Guys?" Skull stutters, stepping forwards and gesturing with shaking hands. "Y-you all know how Tsunayoshi will just leave one thing for another…" Sure, Tsunayoshi did that, he missed appointments all the time. But only because one of the Arcobaleno had wanted to do something else instead. He could be in the middle of **any**thing with one of the Mafia Row residents, but he'd drop it in a heartbeat if the Arcobaleno said even one word. Breaking a promise to meet one of _Them_ was not something Tsunayoshi did. Ever.

"I can do a search and look." Offers Viper, money not even coming into the equation. Tsunayoshi was worth more than money. She reaches under her robe and plucks off a sheet of toilet paper. Closing her eyes she gets a clear image of Tsunayoshi in her head before sneezing into the paper. She opens her eyes and takes a look at what her thoughtography had provided her with.

The others wait for her results, but get worried when all she does is stare at it. The small part of her face they can see goes pale. Was where Tsunayoshi was really that bad that the Varia's own Mammon and the Arcobaleno's Viper was scared of it?

"**Speak**." Orders Bermuda. But Viper doesn't. Luce walks over to peer over Viper's shoulders. But she sees nothing but a random squarish splat on the paper.

And that was the problem. It looked like _nothing. _Viper's technique always came through in one way or another, whether that be a map or some other clue. Since they'd asked for a location specifically, they expected a map. It was no wonder Viper had become unresponsive.

"S-She doesn't know." Luce reports, just as shocked as Viper is. That shape doesn't remind her of anything either. It doesn't look like a normal splat, but it doesn't resemble anything recognisable either.

"We'll just do a house search then, kora." Says Colonnello determinedly, grabbing his riffle and holding it threateningly.

Lal slaps the back of Colonnello's head hard enough to make him take a few steps forwards. "You lackwit! It's too early in the morning to demand that. Some Bosses might be awake, but none are going to agree to a search." Colonnello doesn't answer back since he knew Lal was worried too. That had hardly been a real hit she'd just given him. A normal slap would have had him kissing the ground instead of stumbling.

The Arcobaleno had no choice but to split up for the night and prepare for bed. Not that anyone actually slept though. Colonnello went to his room and reached under the bed to pull out an old battered case. It was covered in dust, the case was ripped and worn in places but still holding strong. Wiping the dust off, he flicks open the locks and takes in a breath before opening it. Inside is a disassembled sniper riffle, a glossy storm blue in colour.

He runs his hand down the barrel, remembering the last time he had used this particular riffle. He had saved Lal's life with this particular gun and had finally earnt her respect. It meant a lot to him and he'd sworn to himself to only use it in emergencies. It seemed to him that there wasn't a better time to use it. Someone was about to experience a hailstorm and they would not live to tell the tale.

In her own room, Lal was doing something similar. There were pieces of guns all around her on the bed and she was cleaning them thoroughly. Not one speck of gunpowder would be left. She even double checked the sight to make sure that her aim would be spot on perfect. She even took some bullets out of her special stoke. All had been supplied to her by Vongola and each was deadly in her hands.

Finally, she picked up her last weapon that was rarely used. Picking up a steel, she sets to sharpening her hand knives. She was better with these than she was with a gun. It felt nice to have them back in her hands. Tsunayoshi may have only started out as something forced upon her before turning into a pet project, but Lal was not about to lose the best recruit she'd ever had the fortune to meet.

Luce stared at the pills in her hand and sighed before taking them and downing a glass of water. They were sleeping pills that would take affect almost immediately. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight without them, not with her cute Tsunayoshi out there somewhere. But she had been a boss for a while, and during that time she had lots of things to worry about. But one thing she had learnt was the importance of sleep. She could not be a leader and tactician when her brain was working without sleep. She would miss things, her planning would be clouded and unintuitive and she'd be generally in the way. Worry was only going to harm her. She couldn't do anything until the morning anyway. But when she awoke, she was going to be at top form. And nothing was going to keep a mother away from her son.

Skull paced within the confines of his room, muttering away to himself in worry. What if he really had been kidnapped? What if Tsunayoshi was being tortured? What if Tsunayoshi was screaming for help and all Skull was doing was wasting time! There had to be something he could do! He may not have the physical training of Fon, nor the skill with weapons like Lal, Colonnello and Reborn, he might not have the information network of Viper's or the technology Verde had, or even the contacts and leadership skills that Luce had, but there had to be something he could do. He wasn't someone that needed to be protected and pushed towards the back. He had his worth! Tsunayoshi always saw that worth and brought it out of him. But he wasn't here right now. He wasn't infront of a crowd acting the part either…

That's it! That's what he could do better than any of the others. He had speed. He could drive faster than anyone- even Luce going towards a clothing sale. They'd used him as a get-away driver before now. He could drive at speed through traffic without hitting anything once. And he could drive anything from motorcycles to boats and helicopters. He could get them to where Tsunayoshi was faster than anyone else on earth. He'd crash through the windows of their base if that was what it took to get Tsunayoshi back. He'd be the biggest distraction he could be to make sure that the others rescued Tsunayoshi. He'd prove to everyone that his nickname as Immortal Skull wasn't just backless posing!

Fon blinked when his fist met with air and a crashing sound filled his ears. Looking around, he finds a fallen tree at his feet. He hadn't even been focused on what he was doing, he'd just been training aimlessly. At least his anger was dissipated now. It was finally back under control. It went against his training to show his anger infront of others so his face had remained clear and blank the whole time. Whilst no one had dared to speak the words, they all had a gut feeling that Tsunayoshi had been kidnapped. In the world they lived in, it wasn't a farfetched jump. That it had happened here on Mafia Row did make it unlikely, but he couldn't forget the true nature of the people living here.

But the thought angered him enough that before he knew it, his foot had impacted the nearest tree. It wasn't right, it wasn't just. Tsunayoshi had never done anything to anyone before to deserve such treatment. And it was all too possible that the Arcobaleno were to blame. Tsunayoshi had fallen victim to their fame. This was where glory hunting had gotten them! Pride was sinful for a reason. His training wasn't meant to be used for selfish wants, but Fon was sure that his Masters would forgive him just this once. He had to get Tsunayoshi back, no matter the cost.

Ice. There was no heat left in Reborn anymore. Those who had taken Tsunayoshi from him would find no mercy, no forgiveness, no retribution. Their begging and pleads for mercy would fall on deaf ears and a frozen heart. Even Leon was angry, for once acting like a true chameleon and disappearing in and out of sight. Reborn was more than surprised when the crystal glass of whiskey in his hand broke. It was then that he noticed his hands shaking. Not in fear but in anger. When was the last time this had happened? When was the last time that someone, _a person,_ affected him like this?

He never got this emotional before. There had never been room in his life for someone else before. No one had ever made it into the pebble that was Reborn's heart. For monsters didn't have hearts. And that's what he'd been before Tsunayoshi had arrived and changed everything. How could one person, a child at that, change him so much? Tsunayoshi and his personality was almost like a poison to Reborn, slowly killing the person he used to be. Now more than ever, more than the Ninth had ever instilled in him before, he started questioning his need to kill. All because of a few tearful words from a brat. But with how things had been so far, Reborn wasn't about to get cured, no, he was going after another dose.

The floor in Viper's room was as white as it could get. Ever since they had split up, Viper had been trying her Thoughtography endlessly in hopes that it would reveal something that the last thousand times hadn't. She'd done everything she could to improve her chances. She'd started to burn incense. She had even brought out some _real_ candles instead of the fake LED ones she normally used. There were five or six different magic circles, over turned bowls of water and a few different coloured seeing crystals on the floor too. She'd tried divination across all cultures to get an inkling, just some sort of clue, _any clue_, to where Tsunayoshi was at the moment.

If Tsunayoshi had been on Mafia Row, she would have gotten a map from her Thoughtography. Since she didn't, then he wasn't here at all. No one would take him off the Island without their permission. It was a shame that she was an ESPer rather than a clairvoyant. Maybe then she could talk to the many ghosts on the island to get some information… Hmm, that gave her an idea of who to talk to. She knew someone who could talk to ghosts, and they were right on this island too. And if that didn't work, then she'd use every piece of blackmail at her disposal to find Tsunayoshi. Information was even more powerful than a bullet or a punch, and she had the largest information network in the world.

Over at the Vendicare, the members of the Vindice were having a ball. Bermuda-sama had returned with an aura black enough for them to wonder whether he'd had an encounter with their eternal enemy. Listening to Bermuda's tantrum soon set that straight, but to them the reason didn't really matter. This was the strongest they had seen his Night Flame flare in a while. Bermuda was consumed with the need for Revenge, and that revenge fed his flame to new heights. They wanted to watch the poor fools who had created such a level of rage in their Boss get massacred. It was sure to be an interesting show. Bermuda-sama's childish nature led him to be rather mean and nasty at times.

Bermuda himself had gone back to his room to collect a few things. One was a shard of blackened mirror so he could see what was going on around him. It was the Vindice's way of watching the world so they knew when justice had to be dealt. Next was to sharpen the tips of his chains in addition to adding a few more spikes and blades to it. Finally, Bermuda grabbed a few of the Vindice's collars so he could render his captives paralysed. If it was true that Tsunayoshi had been kidnapped, then the kidnappers would never see the light of day again.

Verde sat in his lab and stared at the small device in his palm. This could have been one of his biggest 'told you so' moments of his life where the Arcobaleno were concerned. His apathetic and scientific nature could have saved them a lot of worry. This tiny device could have solved all of their troubles if they'd just listened to cold hard logic and reason instead of their sappy hearts. Luce was to blame for her ethics and her morals and her 'no experimenting' rule. He should have just gone and done it anyway and hidden the child for a few days afterwards. There were lots of things that he should have been writing down in his observational journal. Like the feeling of worry and anger that was welling up inside of him. But he didn't. Instead he just continued to stare at the small object in his hand.

The tracking device.

It wouldn't have even hurt Tsunayoshi to get it implanted. Humans did it every day to their pet dogs and cats. One small injection and it would be done. Tsunayoshi wouldn't even be able to feel it. But No. Luce had gone on about how unethical it was, and how he should have his privacy and other silly things that Verde didn't care about at all. So he'd have to do it without. But that didn't mean he'd go unarmed. Placing on a special Lab Coat, he filled it with every piece of equipment he thought might come in handy. Ear pieces for communication, lock picks and safe crackers, a tiny laptop with the best hacking and cracking software he could program, vials of chemicals to burn through any metal blocking their way. Some of the healing cream he had created to fix the wound in his shoulder many months back along with general medical equipment to prepare for the worst of what might have happened to Tsunayoshi. A taser, tear gas, poisons and anything else that might come in handy. They'd soon learn never to take a Subject away from a Scientist.

All they needed to do now was wait for the sun to rise and confirm that Tsunayoshi wasn't somewhere on the island. There was the tiniest possibility that Tsunayoshi had stayed somewhere else for the night, maybe gotten tired and fallen asleep by accident. But it was so tiny that they didn't want to create false hope. This was the real world they lived in, not some fairy tale.

The Strongest nine people in the Mafia were on a hunt, and nothing was going to stop them.

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><p><strong>Phantom Hitman 1412<strong>

**First published 04 November 2012.**


	51. You Ask Everyone

Chapter 51:

You Ask Everyone

**Thank you all so much for more than 1,000 reviews! I was totally gob-smacked when a reviewer pointed it out to me. Thank you for supporting this fic for so long and I hope you'll continue to do so.**

****_Warnings of a slightly jumpy chapter._

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><p>Hayato jolted awake when arms slipped under him, but a quiet <em>shh<em> and a warm hand rubbing his back soon sent him back into sleep. The next time he awakens, it's to the sound of his sister's voice. Gak!

When Luce hands Hayato over, she assumes that Hayato is still sleeping instead of having fainted at the sound of Bianchi's voice.

"Tsunayoshi didn't come by to see Hayato after he left the house did he?" Luce asks the pink haired girl.

Bianchi links her hands behind her back and swings from side to side, the image of a cute innocent girl. "No Miss, I haven't seen Tsunayoshi since last time he came to see Hayato." You see this woman here was her mortal enemy. Not only did she spend a hell of a lot of time with Reborn, but Luce also seemed to be able to counter her poison cooking just by smiling at the plate. It put her skills to shame! But she would win one day. Her feelings of Love were stronger than Luce's, Bianchi was sure of it.

Luce nods, having expected the answer and gives Hayato one last pat on the head before she leaves the Gokudera Household.

"Well?" She asks as she walks towards the next house. Anyone watching would think she was talking to herself. But she wasn't.

"Negative." Reborn growls. He had gone inside their house and searched it from attic to basement to garden shed in hopes of finding the boy. No one saw him of course, since he had been just like a phantom.

As she passes the house belonging to the Cervello, Lal joins them, shaking her head quickly. Skull joins them soon after, coming out of the American Nuevo House. None of them had seen Tsunayoshi, nor were they concealing the child in secret.

"Tsunayoshi didn't come to your house yesterday did he? I know he likes sliding on your floors. He mentioned that he wanted to come yesterday, so I was wondering whether he had." Asks Colonnello to the masked Geigue. The three Russians look between themselves.

"Negative. We have not seen the child since two months ago when we went through that three day heat wave." Explains Viktor.

Anastasia suddenly flicks her chain-scythe behind her, the scythe bouncing against the wall and being redirected around the corner. "You underestimate us if you believe we will not notice your presence in our house." She hisses, flicking her weapon back into her hand. Fon walks around the corner looking composed even if he had just been caught. "You think we shall let you wonder freely?"

"Calm down, kora. We have a reason." Colonnello says, hand slowly inching towards the smoke grenade in his belt in case they needed to make a quick exit.

"You are looking for the child." Nikola says, somehow giving off a smug aura despite his expression being hidden behind the bone mask. "You would not have asked us otherwise."

With the cat out of the bag, the aura of the other two turns deadly. The Geigue were experienced and considered one of the most dangerous Famiglia, so they could tell that Fon was currently more dangerous than Colonnello who was openly showing his discontentment. Fon was an expert at hiding his presence (he had forgotten about how ice creates reflections and hence gotten caught) and not showing one trace of his aura. So whilst it may seem to anyone that he wasn't affected, the Geigue knew and even took a few subtle steps away from him.

"Then you should know that lying to us is not the best tactic right now. So I'm going to ask it simply this time and I expect the truth, kora!" Colonnello knew that the Giegue were smart, and that they wouldn't risk going against the Arcobaleno. They clearly understood the different levels they were on. Colonnello was pretty confident that the Giegue were not going to lie to them.

"Are you currently in possession of Tsunayoshi?"

Three shakes of heads.

"Have you seen Tsunayoshi in the past 24 hours?"

Three more shakes of heads.

"Fine. But if you do see him, let me know as soon as possible." The pair quickly disappear, leaving three Russian assassins to take a breath in.

"Tsunayoshi isn't with them either." Fon reports when they meet up with the others.

Amazingly enough, it's Skull that stomps angrily towards the next house on their list. "If these drunken idiots have taken Tsunayoshi for something as silly as revenge or insurance then I shall personally escort them to the Reaper myself." Skull kicks the lock off of the gate before kicking the doors open with a resounding slam. Reborn follows the fuming stuntman with an amused smile on his face. Looks like Skull had a backbone after all.

"WOLF! Get out here now before I- ***beeeeeeeep*-"** The following sentence was one that Tsunayoshi would not have been very happy with, but had Colonnello and Reborn nodding in appreciation. If Skull could go through with those threats then they would truly be impressed.

Wolf saunters out of the house, smoking something that certainly wasn't tobacco. "Heh, at least I got a pair, unlike you." Wolf smirks, retorting to Skull's threat. "You so scared of me that you brought back up? Although you've got some guts coming back after what you and the brat did. Half of my men left after the Vindice came for an extended stay." Wolf spits in distaste.

"Lowlifes like you deserve to be disbanded." Skull bites back, striding up to the man. "But I really couldn't care less. I don't belong to you anymore and I will never lift another finger to help you."

"Oh?" The man smiles widely, revealing discoloured teeth and a few gold implants. "So you don't care if I tell them that the Immortal Skull is far more breakable than he lets on? How about I bring you crashing down off that high horse and remind you that you belong in the mud like the rest of us."

"I really don't care anymore. Tell them. They are far more of a family to me than you ever were." Skull finally crosses the garden enough to stand only a step away from the Carcassa Boss. Skull grabs the man's collar and pulls him close. "I couldn't care less about that. What's more important is whether you've taken Tsunayoshi or not. I'm fully prepared to level this place to the ground if I have to. And no one will stop me."

"Haha, so there is testosterone in you. But tell me one thing. What makes you think I would tell you?" Wolf spits on Skull's helmet ( since it was covering his face) before giving the stuntman another disgusting grin.

Skull brings his arm back and punches the man across the jaw. He's knocked out like a light so Skull lets him fall to the ground before kicking him out of the doorway.

"If you know how to act like a man then why don't you?" asks Reborn as they all enter the house.

"Why? Because Tsunayoshi is in danger and I have to do something to find him. Plus I've always wanted to punch him like that. He deserves it." Skull says, his voice sounding deeper due to the helmet he had on.

"Studies in animals have shown that parents become more aggressive when there is a threat to their cub." Verde comments offhandedly, peering cautiously at some plants that were not flowers. "I do believe that we are currently exhibiting similar tendencies."

"Nah, Skull's just feeling manly because he had his helmet on. He wouldn't have done it otherwise." Colonnello laughs, following along behind Skull who was kicking down doors like there was no tomorrow.

A thorough investigation of the house reveals that the Carcassa haven't taken Tsunayoshi either.

"I'll handle this next one." Verde says, a smug smile on his face. He walks away from them, waving with his all-access card he had for the Estraneo Laboratories. It had actually started as a pass just to get him into the room containing Tsunayoshi's friends, but Verde had tampered with it and changed the programming. It now let him anywhere he wanted to be. Being a Scientist means that the Estraneo didn't mind his presence, even if he was somewhere other than the room he was supposed to be in.

Whilst Verde is doing that, Lal goes into the CEDEF headquarters and goes to ask Basil if he had seen Tsunayoshi recently. Tsunayoshi quite liked Basil, and Lal suspected that Basil had been teaching Tsunayoshi some of the old-style language Iemitsu had taught him, in Tsunayoshi's attempt to sound more like Bermuda on an ego trip. Considering how little old-style language Bermuda actually used, Tsunayoshi knew a lot. She asks the other team members of the CEDEF if they had seen Tsunayoshi either, but makes sure not to tell Iemitsu about it. The others agree not to tell their Boss either. They adored the bubbly child almost as much as everyone else did, despite Iemitsu's personal vendetta.

But both come back empty handed and information-less. A quick check in the Tomaso House reveals that Longchamp had seen Tsunayoshi, but the time meant that it was before Belphegor and Levi had seen their little brother, meaning that Tsunayoshi had been safe and sound, and most importantly, still on the Island at the time.

Tsunayoshi had gone swimming with Lal earlier that morning so it was unlikely that he would visit the Sasagawa Gym again, but the Arcobaleno still checked. Tsunayoshi wasn't there, nor had he gotten hungry and visited any of the restaurants Mafia Row Central had to offer. Nor had he been dragged in to be used as a mannequin by Haru and Sakura again. They had a habit of doing that without Luce's permission.

Verde walks into the Bovino's House, letting Lal in too so the woman could search the place secretly. Verde doubted that the Bovino were going to be trouble though. Even if they did have Tsunayoshi, they were likely to tell him if he asked. The Bovino weren't really the type to deceive, plus they all knew that Tsunayoshi was Verde's Observational Subject and therefore was hand's off. They had scientific respect for each other.

When Verde walks into the main laboratory, it's to be met with a mouthful of baby blue smoke. Coughing he holds a sleeve over his mouth before going and finding Vittorio.

"Where has the smoke come from?" he asks when he finds the Bovino Boss.

Instead there is a joyous shout of glee from the epicentre of the smoke. "Kyaa! Boss I was there! For 10 seconds I was there!" There is a flurry of activity, starting with congratulatory hugs and handshakes before the science kicked back in and results were recorded. A storm of questions rained down on the poor subordinate who 'had been there' for 10 seconds.

"Wow, that's some reaction, what did you do, figure out transportation at a molecular level?" asks Verde, getting slightly caught up in the atmosphere. The Bovino and he were friendly rivals after all.

"Oh no, Verde! It's far better than transporting matter from one place to another. We have started on the next form of travel that human kind has never fully dreamed of before. My dear Electra was transported to an Alternate dimension!"

Verde was envious. Verde was mad that they had gotten there first. Verde was angry. Verde was… going to let it go. Traveling Dimensions was nearly as bad as traveling through time. However, the differences in timelines meant that influences weren't going to be as common and less distortion was going to happen to either dimension. Basically he was glad that they weren't playing with Time again and therefore warning them about the dangers of inter-dimension travel could wait...

It… could… wait… He had to… find… Tsunayoshi… first.

Mentally pulling himself away from the experiment that he dearly wanted to dig into, he forces his mind back onto the really important thing here. "Tori, have you seen Tsunayoshi anywhere?" Verde wasn't one to beat around the bush, and at the moment, Vittorio wasn't fully listening to him either. It was highly likely that he'd forget about the particulars of this conversation.

"Tsunayoshi? Saw him yesterday during our evacuation. He commented about the smoke and offered to get you to help. I knew what had gone wrong so I sent him on his way. I think he went to the Varia's place after that."

Well that didn't help at all, Verde already knew he went to the Varia. What he wanted was what had happened _after_ the Varia. So Verde strides out of the room without even a goodbye. Not that Vittorio cared, he was too busy grilling his subordinate for information. Lal joins him at the gate and reports to the others that Tsunayoshi wasn't in their building either.

House after house they check, verbally asking and sneaking around the houses. Sadly it was law on Mafia Row to respect privacy and not sneak into another's house. The Arcobaleno couldn't be seen breaking one of their own rules. They got around that through the loophole of openly approaching the members of the house. After that, sneaking around the house wasn't against the law- the Mafioso inside should be more vigilant. But the Arcobaleno were the best and they hardly got caught by anyone accept by the Vongola and the Varia. In general it was either Reborn, Lal, Colonnello or Fon that went sneaking around the houses. Luce did one time, and that was for the Giglio Nero house. That way if she got caught, no one would mind her presence.

And finally, they've run out of houses. There is nowhere else on this island for Tsunayoshi to be hiding.

An icy calm settles over the Arcobaleno. It was clear. Someone had taken THEIR Tsunayoshi.

But he must have been taken from somewhere on this island. It was time to start looking for clues then.

* * *

><p>They open their gate and are shocked to find the majority of Mafia Row standing outside with figurative tourches and pitchforks.<p>

"Explain Trash." Demands Xanxus. "You've been asking some weird questions and it's time to set things straight." There is silence for a few seconds as everyone quietens down to hear the Arcobaleno's answer. They don't say anything though. So Xanxus does.

"Have you lost our little brother?"

The silence is filled in anticipation as they realise that everyone has had the same thought. When no answer is forthcoming, Xanxus growls and points his X-guns at them, the guns whining as he charges them up. "I wants an answer Scum!"

"Calm down Xanxus. They have not lost him." Explains Primo, walking through the crowd.

"Che, how stupid can you get?" scoffs G. ignoring how Xanxus points one of the pair of guns at him. "The brat isn't like that. He must have been kidnapped, or else they'd know where he is. The brat doesn't do anything without them."

"Well we've got to get him back then!" cries Dino, tripping over his feet in his attempt to walk to the front of the crowd. The crowd give a cheer of agreement.

"Stealing is breaking the peace of the Island." Kurogane Hibari comments, a dangerous smile alighting on his face and the face of his silent son standing next to him.

"Why didn't my Mist-trash tell me about this?" shouts Xanxus before he storms off with the grace of a caged lion.

"Where is Mammon?" asks Nono, noticing that she wasn't with the rest of the Arcobaleno.

* * *

><p>Viper leans back breathlessly, bracing herself against the floor. She spends a few seconds regaining her breath before checking upon the child before her. Mukuro was even more breathless than she was.<p>

"One more time." Viper says, leaning forwards once again. Mukuro grits his teeth in determination before nodding.

Mukuro's Path of Hungry Ghosts and his Path of Demons did more than strengthen him. Trained in the correct way, like Viper had spent all night doing, it could also be used to communicate with ghosts and demons alike. Viper was providing raw Flames for Mukuro's continued attempts at communicating with the many ghosts on the Island in hopes that one of them had seen what had happened to Tsunayoshi. But these Ghosts, being Hungry Ghosts, weren't playing fair. Hence the continuous attempts.

Mukuro was just as adamant as everybody else to get Tsunayoshi back. Tsunayoshi getting kidnapped was not in his plans. He had thought that the Arcobaleno were better at protecting their hidden jewel. He needed Tsunayoshi for his plans to succeed. The boy could not be allowed to be killed or seriously injured beyond repair. Mukuro couldn't use a broken tool.

"I… I've got it. We need… to go… to… the…"

* * *

><p>"Haha! Berde! Berde! Pick up!" giggles Fuuta, walking on unsteady feet towards Verde with his arms raised in want of a hug. He still hadn't learnt that Verde didn't give hugs. It was toddler logic that everyone handed out hugs. However Verde just picked him up for observations.<p>

So instead, Luce gives him the hug the tiny boy wanted. "Hello Fuuta."

"Hello Luce!" Fuuta smiles, patting the mark under her eye like he always did.

"Good Afternoon Arcobaleno." Lancia greets, walking over from where he had been keeping an eye on Fuuta play in the garden.

"I assume you've heard about the current situation?" Verde asks, getting straight to the point. Somehow everyone seemed to know that Tsunayoshi had been kidnapped. Lancia nods. "Then I'll be borrowing Fuuta for a few seconds." Lancia looks concerned but doesn't say anything. Verde had been careful when dealing with Fuuta and had never harmed the child so far.

Luce smiles down at the little boy in her arms. "Fuuta, can you help me? You see Tsunayoshi's playing hide and seek with us at the moment. Can you tell me where he is right now?"

She gently lets go as Fuuta hovers in the air. Small leaves twirl around in the vortex created. Luce has to hold onto her hat, but Fuuta still wasn't strong enough to lift anyone heavier than Tsunayoshi currently. Fuuta had the strange ability to know things that he shouldn't. Verde hadn't found an explanation for it yet and was highly reluctant to believe in this 'Ranking Planet' that Fuuta swore talked to him. Verde had at first dismissed it as an imaginary friend and a lucky fluke. But as Fuuta started to give Verde more and more information that he shouldn't know, Verde had to concede. Nor could he deny the swirls of galaxies that lit up Fuuta's eyes when he used his abilities.

"Please Ranking Planet, answer my question… Yes, I hear you… The Top 5 places that Tsuna-nii is are… Germany, England, Italy, France and in number one…"

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaaaand in Number 1 is…<strong>

**You'll have to keep on reading to find out. I know Bermuda isn't in this chapter, he's coming in next time. **

**Is anyone else sad to the extreme that KHR ended? And so suddenly too. The ending seemed a little rushed to me. But if we have learnt anything from KHR it's to tackle life with your Dying Will! That and if you ever have a baby dressed in a suit claim to be your tutor, believe whatever the damn child says!**

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 08 November 2012.**


	52. Look Everywhere

Chapter 52:

Look Everywhere

**I feel that I have to warn you about this now before you guys actually kill me. By now you should all know that my arcs last around 8 chapters or so (excluding the introduction one which was waaaaayyyy longer). This one is no different, meaning we're not going to find him for a few more chapters yet. And that means the possibility of more cliff hangers, so prepare yourselves now. **

**And did anyone else notice the link between the last chapter of Reborn! and the first opening of the anime? Both use the phrase "**_An Angel Without Wings_**". I thought calling Reborn an angel without wings was so touching.**

* * *

><p><em>The doors to his office open and he runs and jumps on them. He didn't care who it was, it could be Cloud or even Reborn for all he cared. Delicate yet strong arms catch him and barely stop them from tumbling to the floor.<em>

_"Ah, Sky, are you okay?"_

_"Storm! I lost him!" wails Sky. Storm strokes Sky's back in a robotic manner, still not knowing what has made his Boss like this._

_"Juudaime, you're going to have to explain that. Did you lose Natsu? Or has Cloud not reported in again?" Storm tries to calm Juudaime down, guiding him into the room so he can close the door._

_Sky takes in a deep breath and lets go of Storm before pacing infront of his desk. "I sat there and watched and I-…I…" Realising that he's not making sense, Juudaime stops and faces his Right Hand Man. "It's Chibi. He's been kidnapped."_

_Storm's eyes widen and he takes a breath in. "He was what? But… that's impossible!"_

_Sky nods before looking down at his hands. "I watched, Gokudera. I was sat in a tree and watched the kidnapper take him. I SAT there and WATCHED!" Now Storm knew why his Boss was in such a state, Juudaime didn't like being helpless. It stemmed from his resolve not to slip back into being Dame-Tsuna._

_"I know I'm not supposed to interfere in that world more than necessary, but still… What if he died? They are on a different timeline than us so it's possible. This could be the moment that he died in that dimension. We never did check their future. It could be that moment and all I did was sit and watch! We can't have him die now Gokudera. Too much is riding on him. But I can't- I can't go back there."_

_"Juudaime," Gokudera sighs, understanding the pain Sky was in._

_"I know Storm, I know. I've just got to let things run their course." Taking in a deep breath he settles himself. "So anyway, what did you come in here for?"_

_"Ah, just the thing to get your mind off of this Juudaime…" Storm hurriedly explains the contents of the folder he was holding before bowing himself out of the room so Juudaime could think in peace._

_But strangely enough, Storm leaves with a bright smile on his face._

* * *

><p>"They took him from you."<p>

"That's certainly a slight towards the Vindice."

"Are you really going to allow someone to take what is yours?"

"I wonder what they've done to him?"

"That's right, they could be torturing him for information as we speak."

"They could be breaking his fragile skin with a knife."

"They might have beaten him into submission."

"Drugged him to sleep."

"Are you really going to let them get away with this?"

"Don't you want to find him?"

"Don't you want…"

"**Revenge?**"

The Vindice watch as Night Flames flicker angrily around Bermuda-sama, whispering words of encouragement, making their Boss as angry as possible. Their Flames thrived on Revenge, it was their power source. So making Bermuda-sama feel like extracting Revenge on those who took what was theirs was the easiest way to tap into the well of power he had. It was by his orders too.

"Enough." Bermuda orders, letting go of his concentration and therefore his Flames. He places down the small piece of black mirror on the table before rubbing his temples.

"Did you find him, Bermuda-sama?" asks Jager, pushing Bermuda down into a chair.

"All I saw was black. Whoever has him currently has Tsunayoshi in a dark place without any light. Every time was the same thing. No matter how many times I looked, all I saw was black." Bermuda lifts his hat off before fanning himself with it. After a few seconds to regain a little energy, Bermuda places it back on. "I need to check up on the others."

"Bermuda-sama, do you have enough Flames left for that? You really should rest." Pushes Junk. They all took good care of Bermuda. He was the one keeping them alive, so if Bermuda didn't have enough Flames left by the time they ran out, it was game over. Although currently that wouldn't be for a while. They had recharged merely from the residual energy Bermuda-sama had been leaking whilst using the mirror.

"**I shall be fine! Dost thou dare to defy me!"** Bermuda shouts, slamming a hand down on the table. When no one answers back or even moves, Bermuda turns back to the mirror. He pushes his Night Flames into the mirror and watches as an image of Viper comes into clarity.

"_We… need… to go to… to the…"_

As soon as Bermuda heard those words, he opened a portal and stepped through it. In a blink he was standing in the Estraneo House, next to Viper. Those behind bars jump, not feeling his presence arrive. The girl quivers, nearly crying as she cuddles the plush owl harder. The three young males all stand ready to defend themselves. Viper turns to look at him, hardly having reacted at all. Nearly a year with Bermuda warping around the place had gotten her used to it. Plus she was far more apt at reading changes in auras and Flame than the four before her was.

"**Come**." Bermuda orders, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. She seemed just as tired out and Flameless as he was. He takes a side glance at the reason for her tiredness. The experiment #69, Rokudo Mukuro. Bermuda reckoned that he'd have to keep an eye on him. He'd dealt with a lot of Estraneo experiments in his time, nearly all that were set free ended up in his prison and he had a sneaking feeling that unless the boy turned out to be useful, Mukuro was going to end up there also.

With a final portal, the pair arrive in the forest near to their house. They take a few more steps towards the road and find a small clearing.

And there, proudly and _oh so innocently _placed right in the centre are Tsunayoshi's shoes. They couldn't be anyone else's since this was a pair that Luce had attacked and made into Lion's paws.

Bermuda stalks over to stand infront of them and notices a piece of paper rolled up inside one of them. Bending down he picks it up and unrolls it. Viper walks over and looks over his shoulder (he was of a similar height).

_To the Strongest in the Italian Mafia. _

_We invite you to play a game with the Diablo. _

_Come unless you want your Angel to be killed by Demonios. _

_Tick Tock, you're on the clock._

_The True Arco Iris. _

The pair were furious. The pair were livid. The pair were ready for blood to be spilled. Viper wasn't with the Varia for nothing, she had her mean streak too. Whoever had taken Her Tsunayoshi would be nothing more than broken vegetables by the time she was finished with their minds. He was an excellent source of income and he still hadn't paid off his debt yet!

Someone had dared to take Tsunayoshi over a mere challenge? What happened to the old fashioned glove slap? Or even a nice letter? But no, they had chosen this method and Bermuda wasn't going to allow it.

The pair's auras can be felt over most of Mafia Row, immediately drawing the other Arcobaleno to them.

"Hey, we know which country Tsunayoshi is in, kora!" Shouts Colonnello as the pair come into view.

"He's in-"

"**Spain."**

Colonnello stops when he realises that Viper and Bermuda just said what he'd said. The other Arcobaleno look surprised too.

Bermuda hands the challenge note over before he can rip it into shreds.

"Now my Thoughtography makes sense. It _was_ giving me the place where Tsunayoshi was. When considering the land mass that is Spain and Portugal, it is a vague square shape." Viper considers, sneezing once again to prove her point.

"Indeed. When Fuuta was ranking countries, all of the others were in the area surrounding Spain. France is right above and Germany above that. England in north over the Channel and Italy is east across the Mediterranean." Verde explains.

"G-g-guys…" Stutters Skull, who had gone over to look at the shoes instead. "Shouldn't w-we be more worried by this?" Skull lifts up one shoe and points to the dark red stain on it.

Verde walks over and snatches the shoe out of Skull's grasp before gathering up the other one and walking back towards their house.

* * *

><p>"Spanish Trash, eh?" growls out Xanxus.<p>

"I believe that it should be Basura, Bossu." Giggles Lussuria, only to be rewarded with a wine glass thrown at him.

"Xanxus, please be more civil." Chides Nono, before turning back to Reborn and Luce. "I shall see what I can do for you, although I'm sure that Mammon must know more than I do."

Reborn lowers his fedora, and Luce gives a nervous smile. "I'm sure she does. However she is not in the best condition at the moment. Her and Rokudo Mukuro are currently passed out from exhaustion and none of us can crack into her information files. Anything you have will be of use." Luce assures. It would be a start after all.

"And I'm sure that you would be kind enough to pass all information to us before acting on it, right Timoteo?" Reborn says in an icy voice. He didn't care that he was half threatening the God Father of the Mafia and his old Boss. Tsunayoshi was theirs to save, no one would be getting there first. Nono sighs and nods his head in agreement. He could understand their feelings at the moment so he'd make allowances.

"I've got a good contact of mine in London. I'll see if he knows who this Famiglia could be. I'll just say that some Spaniards are setting their feet in my turf." Offers Frankie, the Nuevo Boss. He had good connections with both England and Australia.

"I've got a villa in Spain that we can use as a base of operations if you want," Offers the Chiavarone Boss.

"Why are we waiting around, let's get moving!" demands the Tomaso Boss, slamming his hands down in a rattle of chains from his bracelets.

The Bosses nod and leave back to their respective houses to gather as much information as they could. If the Mafia couldn't find one little child, then was use was their underground information networks?

* * *

><p><em>Tick Tock. You're on the clock.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>There you go, not as much of a blatant cliff hanger, happier now? And he's not in Japan. If you look back at the kidnappers accent, 'mi' is often used instead of me in spanish and they have silent 'h' at the start of words. <strong>

**By the way, all of you are welcome to join a **_KHR Secret Santa_** that Mockingjay Rose is running (I rp with her, which is hilarious. I'm Gokudera and Verde). Basically you go to the forum and write down what type of fic you want to receive. On December 1****st**** Mockingjay Rose will place all the entrants names into a hat and pick them out. She'll PM you with what person you've ended up with, and then you write the fic that they've asked for. Then you post it, making sure to write down who it's for, whilst keeping an eye out for someone that's written your request. I've entered, so who knows, I might end up writing a fic for one of you! You can request omakes, so if you want a Mafia Row omake, I'd be happy to write that for whoever I end up with, or even an omake for your fic. You don't have to ask for omakes either, it could be a oneshot, or a poem or whatever. So make sure to go and sign up, we've had quite a few popular authors already sign up. **

**I'll put a link in my profile for you all (hoping it works) or go to Mockingjay Rose Profile. **

**Ciao Ciao~**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 11 November 2012**


	53. And Do All You Can

Chapter 53:

And do all you can

**Wow, so many of you signed up for the KHR Secret Santa! Thank you guys, and keep those requests coming in. It's going to be such fun.**

**Spaniards no longer have accents because you now know they are Spanish and I don't know how to write with a Spanish accent. **

* * *

><p>"Oi, why is that brat walking around? Shouldn't he be in the basement or something?" asks one man, watching as their bait walked freely around their kitchen with a glass of strawberry milk in his hands.<p>

"But this Chico is just too cute to lock up." Gushes a woman with long brown hair.

"Basement? Why would I be there?" asks Tsunayoshi, looking at the man with huge brown eyes. Well, the brat was kind of cute, he had to admit.

The man sighs whilst running a hand down his face. "You're bait kid. That means you're attracting the fake Arco Iris here. They won't come and get you if you're not here." He glares at the woman to get his point across, but she just waves her fan and ignores him.

"Arco Iris? Don't you mean the Arcobaleno?" The man sighs and nods. "Well if they are coming then I'll just wait here for them." The man looked at the boy with wide eyes. "Are you friends with them?" Tsunayoshi asks.

"No." The man growls. "We're going to kill them." That's better, now the brat was shaking in fear, his bangs hiding his (most likely crying) eyes.

The woman pats Tsunayoshi's head gently. "You didn't have to tell him that, poor Chico."

"I'll never get you. What happened to the heartless woman that joined us four years ago?" The man asks, staring at the woman strangely.

"Mou~ I'm a woman you know, I'm allowed to gush over Chicos, especially when he's this adorab- Huh?" She looks down and finds her hand limply swinging by her side. The next thing she knows, she's being whacked on the head by her own fan. "Hey! Chic-" She didn't get to finish her sentence as she was slapped across the face with the fan.

She makes a grab for Tsunayoshi with her only working arm but he ducks with amazing speed and runs across the kitchen. The man laughs at his partner, being defeated by a brat. "Haha, you were saying? Ain't so adorable now is he?" But he should have been watching Tsunayoshi more closely, for suddenly he's hit in the back of the knees by a frying pan. He drops to the floor.

Tsunayoshi looks around for another weapon Luce-style. She could turn anything into a weapon. He runs to a cupboard and opens it before chucking out everything he finds in there. The cheese grater, the colander, mixing bowls, scales, half of an electric whisk, everything gets thrown towards the pair. As the man comes at him, arms raised against the flurry of kitchen utensils, Tsunayoshi grabs one of the heavy weights for the olden styled scales and drops it on the man's foot. He grunts before shouting out a few 'naughty' words.

On reflex trained by Luce of all people, he slaps the man's wrist. "No naughty words!"

He then does something he vaguely remembers Lussuria doing and kicks the man's knee cap. It lands mainly due to the fact that his target was hopping on that leg and as such had lowered manoeuvrability. Taking a few steps backwards, Tsunayoshi kicks the rolling pin by accident so he picks it up and holds it in a position he remembers seeing Tsuyoshi holding a bamboo stick in before. What had the restaurant owner done next? Oh yeah, raised it above his head and swung downwards.

So Tsunayoshi quickly raises the rolling pin into the air above his head, only to smack the woman who had been sneaking up behind him. "Ah, I'm sorry Miss." Quickly apologises Tsunayoshi before running over towards the sink. He grabs the bottle of washing up liquid and squeezes the bottle in the direction of the woman. A bright blue liquid jets out and covers the woman.

"You got my dress dirty! It was designer!" she growls.

"But you're going to kill the Arcobaleno. I won't let you do that." Tsunayoshi retorts, giving them a downright icy glare. This makes the pair stop for a second. The man was the best phantom assassin in Spain and even some of his colleagues didn't have heart stopping glares like that. But then again, you had to consider who the brat had been brought up by. He was certainly interesting. "You can't kill them. Killing is naughty!" Tsunayoshi wouldn't be able to handle it of one of them disappeared. "You're just naughty people who are jealous of the Arcobaleno."

And that's when the door opens.

* * *

><p>Lal stomps down the stairs towards the basements with Colonnello following behind her, tugging her arm backwards.<p>

"Lal, don't go in there, kora! You know how Verde gets when he's like this. You might die!" Colonnello pleads, trying his best to pull her in the opposite direction. Lal growls before turning around and pulling on Colonnello, causing him to trip. She adds to his decent down the stairs with a kick to his rear end. Colonnello rolls down the stairs, crashes through the door to the Laboratory of the World's Best Scientist, before coming to a sudden halt against a metal table. Colonnello remained curled up, waiting for Verde's wrath at being disturbed. But nothing comes so he carefully peeks up. Verde is sat at his computer typing away frantically.

The screens infront of him flash and beep before Verde stops and pushes himself away from the keyboard. Lal walks past Colonnello, giving him a kick for his stupidity. Before she met Verde she would have told off and slapped into oblivion anyone who had said they were scared of a scientist. Now that she did know the scientist, she would just nod and agree with anyone who made that claim.

"Rosa-sinensis." Verde says, still staring at the screen.

"What about roses?" asks Lal, coming up to see what was on the screen. "Apart from in a few gardens there are no roses on Mafia Row."

"Rosa, not rose." Verde states emotionlessly before turning around and picking up the red stained shoe. "The stain on here is not Tsunayoshi's blood. I've checked the DNA and it's not a match. The blood isn't even human. On this shoe is a mixture of Bull's blood and the Rosa-sinensis, more commonly known as the Spanish Lady Hibiscus. The Bull's blood belongs to a special species of Bulls specifically cross-bred for the Bull run at Pamplona. The flower too comes from that particular area of Spain. That's as far as I can pinpoint his location. They used real blood to fool us into thinking they had harmed Tsunayoshi. The flower must be a clue to finding them."

Lal nods before taking out her cell phone and calling Reborn. She tells him the information Verde had found before hanging up. "Reborn said it's useful in narrowing down the kidnapper candidates."

* * *

><p>A gun shot fills the air. "I will kill any slackers without mercy." Reborn growls, before the team of people before him get back to work in a fear filled they were Mafioso, but this was Reborn they were dealing with, the Mafia's best hitman. He could aim, shoot and kill all in under a second. Plus the Arcobaleno were on edge at the moment due to the loss of their child. No one wanted to mess with them at the moment.<p>

Luce comes over and presses an espresso into his hand. "Calm down Reborn, they are working as fast as they can. People who are pushed beyond their limits make mistakes." She soothes, trying to make him calm down. She may be slightly immune to Reborn's killer aura, having lived with it on a daily basis, but normal Mafioso were not, poor darlings.

"Then they aren't trying with their Dying Will." Reborn retorts before taking a sip of the strong black coffee.

"Reborn." says one Mafioso, coming to stand up near them. "With the information Verde gave us, we are able to eliminate 21 Famiglia candidates from our list. That leaves us with 3." Pamplona was an area in Northern Spain. It wasn't big enough to have more than three Mafia Families in the surrounding areas.

"Hand me the list then idiot." Growls Reborn. Luce sighs before whacking Reborn with the mouse of a nearby computer.

"Reborn, what did I just say? I used to be a Boss, I know these things." As such, she gently takes the list from the man before Reborn can violently snatch it. "Geez, who put a bee in your bonnet?"

"In case you've forgotten Luce, Tsunayoshi has been kidnapped." Reborn reminds, eyes flashing in anger.

Although he wasn't expecting the pitying look Luce gave him. "Then you must be doubting yourself Reborn. If you believe that Tsunayoshi cannot defend himself long enough for us to find him then you should remember all the training not only you but the others have given him. Have a little faith Reborn. And stop expecting the worst." Before Reborn can snarkily retort back she flips open her phone and makes a call. "Hello, Frankie, it's Luce. I've got some names here for your contact to have a look at…"

* * *

><p><strong>Black<strong>.

That was all Tsunayoshi could see. Was he dreaming? Was it that his eyes were closed? Ouch. No they were open alright. So why couldn't he see anything?

Tsunayoshi shivered. It was cold where he was. His throat hurt, his tongue was dry and his stomach gnawed hungrily at him. And he had a headache worse than taking a ten tonne Leon-Hammer to the head. He didn't know how long he had been here. But something tells him it's the next day's afternoon. Had they knocked him out for that long? He didn't remember much after spraying washing up liquid at this woman and the door opening. He did remember losing the following fight though.

It was dark in here. The dark was scary. He didn't know what was out there in the dark. All of the others had drilled the importance of knowing everything about your surroundings into him, and not knowing terrified him. He hadn't been this scared since he had entered Bermuda's house in the dark for the first time.

"Hello, is anyone there?" He shouts. Not getting an answer, he attempts to move and get up. But something holds him back. Tugging on them he hears a rattling sound. He knew that sound; it was the sound that Skull and Bermuda's chains made. And there was something cold around his wrists. Wait, these cold bracelets were attached to chains, and those chains were attached to… a wall?

He was trapped?

No, he couldn't be. That wasn't possible! He had to go back and check that Viper had made it home safely. He wanted to go back! He didn't want to wait for the Arcobaleno here if someone was going to kill them instead. They weren't the Arcobaleno's friends at all!

He tugs desperately on the chains. "Reborn!" Someone had to be able to hear him. He had to let them know he was here. "Colonnello! Fon!" Both were strong, they could get rid of these chains. "Bermuda! Skull!" They had chains themselves, they should know how to get these off him. "V-Viper! Verde!" C'mon someone, anyone. "Lal!" Where was everyone? He was all alone and he didn't like it! "Luce? Mamma Luce!" Please, he wanted to go home.

"Hey, it's going to be alright." Says a voice in the darkness. Tsunayoshi jumps and scrambles away from the voice until the chains pull taught. "The Arcobaleno will come and save you. You believe in them right?" He thinks he recognises that voice. "Damn this cell, why are they never nicely lit?" Something chinks before a tiny flame appears. Tsunayoshi looks away from the light since it hurts his eyes. But he eventually gets used to it and turns to identify the phantom voice.

"Are you who I think you are?" Tsunayoshi asks, peering at the man before him.

"I am." The not-stranger agrees. "But how do you know that?" he asks suspiciously.

"A picture." Tsunayoshi replies before tapping his head. The stranger nods, committing this piece of information to memory.

"How are you feeling, anywhere hurt?" The adult asks in a concerned voice.

"I am a little hungry." Tsunayoshi admits. That was an understatement though. He hadn't gotten around to lunch yesterday before these naughty men had taken him away, which meant he had gone a whole day without food. For a child like him that was the same as a whole week without food.

The adult chuckles. "That's all your worried about? But then again that was the exact same thing I said last time I was captured." There is a rummaging sound and the flame flickers with the movement. "Good thing I came prepared." The next thing Tsunayoshi knows some green grapes are presented to him. "They'll ease your throat before I give you some proper stuff. Can't have you starving now."

After Tsunayoshi has eaten, the man comes closer and lifts up Tsunayoshi's arm. "I can't remove these for you or else they'll know someone came in here. Nor am I allowed to help you escape. But what I can do is fix your injuries for you." Tsunayoshi nods, wondering why the man can't help him escape. He has a feeling that he shouldn't ask though, so he doesn't. "Tell me if anything hurts when I press on it." Tsunayoshi nods.

After a little examination, the man sighs. "Its not the worst damage I've ever seen before. You'll live. I'll stop these cuts from bleeding though, but otherwise there isn't much else that needs fixing." He reaches into his coat pocket before pulling out a canister and spraying it onto Tsunayoshi's wounds. The little boy hisses in pain but doesn't move. "Where I come from we call these Invisible Plasters. It's like an ordinary plaster in the way it stops things entering the cuts and stops the bleeding, but no one can see it."

There is a beeping sound along with a flash of light from what looks to be a watch. "Uh-oh." The beeps decrease in number, almost like a countdown "Goodbye, little one. Stay Strong."

There is one final beep.

"Um, what was that?" asks Tsunayoshi, but no reply is forthcoming. And then the light blinks out, rendering him back into total darkness.

* * *

><p><strong> All facts that Verde came up with are generally false for once. However I couldn't find a flower that only grows in Spain, so I had to make it up. There really is a flower called the Spanish Lady and that is it's latin name, and it does grow in Spain, but I think it grows in other places too. I do not know whether the Bulls in the Pamplona run are bred specifically for the event or not either. <strong>

**Hope you all liked Tsunayoshi's point of view. See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 15 November 2012**


	54. To Find It Again

Chapter 54:

To Find It Again

_Tick._

Reborn and the rest of the Arcobaleno were in a helicopter currently holding on for dear life. You see, Skull was driving. He was driving as fast as the helicopter could fly to get them to Spain as quickly as possible. Skull could actually drive a helicopter pretty well and in any ordinary circumstances the ride would have been pleasant. Bermuda and Viper were tied down in the back as they slept off their exhaustion. Verde was pinned in by Luce and Fon typing away on his laptop and keeping on top of the information buzzing around. Luce and Fon were keeping Verde in place so he could use both hands to type and stay balanced at the same time. The others were doing whatever it was they did to psych themselves up for a fight.

They eventually arrive at the Nuevo Boss's Spanish Villa, which currently looks more like a war headquarters than a relaxing place to stay. Frankie's men are the only ones to be here at the moment, mainly due to them being stationed here before the whole fiasco started. Other Bosses were currently using other forms of transport to get from Mafia Row to Spain.

It had somehow been decided that this was a Mafia Row affair rather than a Mafia affair. This was of course due to the lack of access to Mafia Row for normal Mafioso. Bosses had to give special permission to their most trusted men to live or stay at Mafia Row. As such only those most trusted subordinates had ever met Tsunayoshi. No one else would understand why finding one kidnapped kid was important.

That reminded Reborn, how had these kidnappers even gotten onto Mafia Row to kidnap Tsunayoshi? None of the Famiglia here had Spanish roots. He'd have to have a nice little chat with the Gate Keepers about that. They were the ones responsible for Security on Mafia Row, hence why they lived closest to the docks.

"Come in, come in. I've got everything set up. All of the information about the three Families and their locations have been printed and put up for you to look at." Ushers Frankie as soon as the helicopter makes its spectacular landing. (This was Skull we are talking about. There was tree branches flying everywhere, mud being flung into the air and some very close near misses. His fans among the Nuevo were ecstatic.) Fon picks Viper up and carries her across his shoulder inside. He didn't want to let anyone else touch her when she was asleep in case one of the Nuevo tried to peek under her hood. Carrying her this way, instead of bridal style, gave less opportunities for her hood to fall down. Colonnello carried Bermuda since no one else wanted to and he lost the round of rock paper scissors with Reborn. The Hitman had cheated he swears!

Viper stirs as she is put down into a chair. "Hnn, where are we?" she asks, blinking against the afternoon sun. It was morning last time she had checked. She's ignored since the other Arcobaleno are concentrating on the boards of information set around the room and the speech Frankie was making about them.

"According to a couple of my contacts, these are the most likely locations for where the three Families are holding Tsunayoshi." He explains, pointing to the pictures around them. "I have also taken into account Professor Verde's information about the Spanish Lady Hibiscus. But that's as far as I can narrow the possibilities down. I don't have any more information on them." Frankie shrugs before walking away to let the Arcobaleno review the locations is peace.

Viper walks over, now feeling more energised, and takes a look at the pictures too. "It's going to be one of these four locations." She explains, pointing to the four in particular.

"Why those four, kora?" asks Colonnello, not noticing anything special in them.

Viper pulls the four pictures down and lays them on the table. "Because these four have religion related locations. This one is a graveyard, this one a cathedral, this one an abandoned church and the final one is a house next to a monument of an angel. If you remember the note they left behind, there were three relious references; Devil, Angel and Demons. So it makes sense that they are in one of these locations."

_Tock._

"But how are we going to choose between these locations?" asks Fon, picking up one of the photos to take a better look at it.

All eyes turn back to Viper with raised eyebrows. "I was about to offer you know." She sighs exasperatedly. Fon places the picture back down for her. Viper nods in thanks before grabbing a tissue. She takes a good hard look at the images before her, along with the information on these locations the Nuevo Boss had provided. Since this was such an important clairvoyance, Fantasma even crawls out of her robe and waves a stick of unlit incense under her nose, trying to help in the only way he can. The smell of the incense helps her to sneeze. She opens her eyes and takes a look at the answer her thoughtography had given her.

On the tissue is a shining number 3.

"The abandoned church." She tells the others.

Luce nods and walks down the other end of the room to make a few phone calls. Some of the Bosses arriving were good information gatherers and should be able to find more information on this location for her. There were 'gentle' reminders that no one was to approach the location in case they startled the kidnappers into harming Tsunayoshi.

Within half an hour, information is being supplied back to them via Verde's laptop. Lal is sat next to him, keeping track of information coming in through communicators and mobile phones, as well as tracking the locations of these people. Luce is communicating between themselves and other Bosses who aren't currently at the villa. Fon is keeping everyone topped up with drinks whilst making the odd comments about what Reborn, Lal and Colonnello were discussing. Skull too was on drinks detail, but he was only serving two people. Sadly those two people were Reborn and Colonnello, which meant insane requests and constant kicks of 'encouragement'. But after being their lackey for so long, Skull actually knew how to make an espresso to Reborn's exacting standards. Reborn was never going to admit that Skull could now make them better then Luce could. Nor was Colonnello ever going to admit that Skull could create fruit smoothies that tasted better than Lal's either. Because they would never hear the end of Skull's gloating if they did let these compliments slip.

Apart from taking their frustrations out on Skull, Reborn and Colonnello were talking strategy and tactics. Verde had hacked into the local council's database to find the records of this abandoned church that included maps and floor plans. There was always the chance that renovations had been done, but this was the best they had currently.

"Someone needs to block off those escape route here and here." Lal reckons, circling the places in a bright blue marker. Colonnello nods.

"We're going to have to ban explosives and heavy artillery," Reborn comments, giving the bazooka-lover a sharp look. "Most of their headquarters will be underground, and I suspect Tsunayoshi will be there too. Considering how old the structure is, we don't want to risk it collapsing." Colonnello nods in agreement before shouting that order over to Luce to relay to the other Bosses.

"You can tell them yourself, Colonnello." Luce smiles, finally lowering her phone from her ear. "Everyone will be here in 10 minutes for the final briefing." Colonnello nods and goes back to Reborn to discuss some more. "Viper~ come and draw pretty pictures with me." Luce sings, grabbing the cloak before Viper can run off and dragging her over to the boys. Pretty pictures actually means battle diagrams.

* * *

><p>"Che, I leave you alone for one hour and you're already beaten up some more." The not-stranger says, startling Tsunayoshi. The flick of a lighter brings a minuscule amount of light to the otherwise pitch black room.<p>

"They wanted some information about the Arcobaleno. I didn't tell them anything. The lady came in and stopped them before they could really hurt me." Tsunayoshi sniffs. "I'm sure that you're gone for longer than an hour. I'm hungry again. Why did you leave me?"

"My time here is limited due to-" Tsunayoshi didn't understand a word of what came out of the adult's mouth next. It sounded like stuff Verde would say. He wondered whether the person that the not-stranger looked like would act like this too when he grew up.

"Verde would be proud of you." Tsunayoshi giggles. The man stops talking and stares blankly at the boy.

"He is. I'm one of the few people he bothers talking to." The man replies. "Ah, I'm not supposed to be telling you these things. I forget that you're not him. Only being able to hear his voice coming from you makes me forget. But anyway, what have these *insert a naughty word here* done to you?"

Tsunayoshi reaches forwards and slaps whatever part of the man is closest to him- his knee he thinks. "No naughty words. What is it with adults and naughty words?" Tsunayoshi scolds.

The light source suddenly gets close to the ground and Tsunayoshi hears a noise like something hitting the floor. "Ah, please forgive me. You should never hear words like that. Sky is going to kill me if you end up copying me."

"Who's Sky?" Tsunayoshi asks.

"I can't tell you that. But he's someone I admire greatly. You mentioned that you were hungry again, right? I brought some sushi that an idiot friend of mine made. He thinks I'm feeding it to Ur- um, my pet cat."

"Why did you tell him that?" asks Tsunayoshi before taking a bite of what the man showed him. Those feelings that he had every now and again told him he could trust this man explicitly so Tsunayoshi wasn't worried about poisoned food. In fact that feeling told him that this not-stranger would be the last person to poison food due to a very bad experience with it.

"Che, you're just like him, asking awkward questions." The man starts rummaging around in his pockets for something. "No one knows that I'm here. AH! There they are. I brought you some painkillers. I've been in a similar situation before so I know what they might do to you. These will dull the pain."

"Thank you." Tsunayoshi says. He feels the man's hand against his before something small is dropped into it, followed by a bottle of water.

"That water is something that a healer friend of mine came up with, there's some things in there that will keep you healthy." The man explains. Tsunayoshi gets the distinct feeling that the man is embarrassed. He can hear this quiver in the man's voice. It's similar to the way Lal speaks when she's doing something nice for once.

"Why are you doing so much for me?" Tsunayoshi asks, head tilted to one side.

This makes the man gasp and babble incoherently for a few moments as if caught surprised. "Oh St. Mary, you ask a lot of damn questions. It's because I- because I c-c-care," A beeping sound drowns out the stutters. "Ah, time's up. I gotta go." The man says in a relieved rush. "You had better stay alive. There's a limit to how far I can watch you suffer like this. If those B*****ds go too far, I'm getting you out of here, damn my orders."

Before Tsunayoshi could reprimand for the use of that naughty word again, there was one final beep and the not-stranger was gone.

* * *

><p><em>You're on.<em>

Skull drives as if the Reaper were on his tail. Admittedly there wasn't much traffic around at this late hour, but there is still enough that swerving is required. Pushing the car as fast as it would go, he just hopes that they can reach Tsunayoshi before something bad happens. He'd never forgive himself if they arrived too late.

"The _True Arcobaleno_? Who do they think they are? They can't even compete with the greatness that is the awesome Immortal Skull-sama from Hell that even the Reaper bows down too."

The Arcobaleno ignore Skull's ranting since it seemed to make him drive even faster. They hold on to any available handles and grips as Skull does a hand-break turn so that they could get around a tight corner without losing too much momentum. But before they know it, they've arrived with the abandoned church just in sight.

They get out of the car, trying their best not to wobble from dizziness, and stare at the location where their son was being held captive.

"Those fakers shall regret the day they decided to go up against the Arcobaleno, kora." Colonnello growls, cracking his fists.

"Let's just hope that they live up to the title they were trying to claim," Lal replies, scanning the horizon for signs of movement. "We've been needing a good challenge,"

Before Colonnello can agree with that statement, someone else does. "I could arrange a match against the Vindice if you so wish."

"Finally awake? Took long enough." Scoffs Reborn, glaring sideward at the patch of black that was blending in with the night.

"It's not my fault that my Flames require a different power source than your own." Bermuda defends. After waking he had gone back to the Vendicare for another agitating session to revive his Flames. It was easy enough since he so dearly wanted Revenge on those who were foolish enough to not only kidnap one of the few people he cared about, but who also dared to even wish to become an Arcobaleno. That name was not something he liked to see thrown around.

"We should not be bickering like housewives," Fon chides, rolling his shoulders to loosen them.

"I agree. Everyone, let's go get our son back!" Luce says in a rarely heard dark determined voice.

_The Clock._

As the clock strikes midnight a scream pierces through the deep tones of the bell.

A very familiar scream.

* * *

><p><strong>I've got a question for you all: On a scale of 1 to 10 how detailed do you want the following fight and torture scenes to be? 1 is just a passing mention and 10 is like, horror movie full on gory stuff. I know this is meant to be a cute fic, but your comments have shown your sadistic sides. <strong>

**And any guesses on who the 'Man in the Cell' is? I keep coming up with them don't I? First the man in the trees and now the man in the cell. There were three clues to who he is ****not****, and at least 12 clues to who he ****is****. If anyone can name those 12 then I'd be very impressed and may even dedicate an omake to them. I kept him ambiguous last chapter on purpose, so don't worry if you were one of the people who assumed it was Tsuna. But if you all remember last chapter, Tsuna isn't allowed to come and is currently working. **

**See you all next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 18 November 2012**


	55. And Deal With

Chapter 55:

And Deal With

**Wow guys, I'm going to have to ask you questions more often. Over 70 reviews for that last chapter. That's over double the next highest. *hugs!* **

**Warnings of a chapter filled with fight scenes. Do not fear, Tsunayoshi is not tortured. I should have specified that last chapter. Also I mean no offence to anyone who is religious, and I am sorry if I offend anyone with anything that happens in the church. **

**I've left a ****present**** in this chapter for you all. Her name is ****Mich****. It means ****myself**** in German. There's no particular reason for me choosing German, except it was the only word meaning myself in any of the relevant languages I checked that sounded remotely like a name. You'll see why she is a present when we get to her paragraph. I say she but Mich could be short for Michel too, for all of you sadistic fanboys out there. However, Mich shall be referred to as a girl due to the majority of my readers being female. Please enjoy.**

* * *

><p><em>Tick Tock. You're on the Clock.<em>

* * *

><p>As the Bell tolls midnight, a piercing scream can be heard.<p>

The Mafiosi and Arcobaleno gathered all tense, the atmosphere becoming electric. They knew who had made that scream and they were not very happy. That sound should never fall from those lips, ever. The Mafiosi around turn to the Arcobaleno as the scream dies out, cringing as they do, not really wanting to see the expressions that would be on the Arcobaleno's faces. But there is no need for the Arcobaleno aren't even there. How they had disappeared so quickly no one knew. Sure, Reborn and Fon they could understand since it was part of their job description, but for even Skull and Verde to move like that… it was truly unprecedented.

A whine fills the air around them, along with the zinging sound of a sword being released from its sheath. "Annoying Trashes, grabbing all the action for themselves." Scoffs Xanxus, the air around him glowing a deathly orange. The whining grows in pitch as the X-Guns Xanxus is famous for are charged to their maximum capacity. Lussuria can be seen stretching, whilst Belphegor grins madly, admiring the sharp edge of his knives. With a loud bang, Xanxus takes to the sky, the Varia jumping into action at the same time, all taking different directions to enter the church from.

Tsunayoshi was important to the Varia, the boy had somehow managed to work his way in. Between their defencelessness at utter adorableness to the way that Tsunayoshi had told them off for drinking and swearing, everything the brat did forced him to become someone the Varia noticed. Of course they had first noticed him for the untapped potential they could all see brimming in the boy. The way he had fearlessly pointed a gun at Xanxus or stared directly at Belphegor with his lunatic grin, all of it had proved that the brat was not a normal person, but someone more. They were impressed with the little boy they saw, marking him as Varia Quality. If the Arcobaleno didn't want him then they'd certainly keep him.

And the Varia were quite a possessive bunch when it came down to it. In the Mafia you had to grab something precious and keep it close before it was either ripped from you or destroyed. And those who got in the Varia's way were removed. As simple as that.

"Che, well I ain't letting them have all the fun." Says G., stringing the bow he had brought with him. He might be an expert in guns, but archery was what he did best.

"Exactly. A holy place should not be defiled like this." Agrees Knuckle. How dare they hold some one hostage in a place of sanctuary and freedom? Three minutes should be more than enough to teach them the proper respect for God's House.

"Nufufu~ My dearest Elena would never forgive me if I let anything happen to the boy." Daemon adds in, removing a speck of dust from his scythe.

"Haha, we don't even need to ask if Giotto's going, we all know he can't say no to someone in need. I'm surprised that he's still even 'ere." Laughs Cozart, patting Giotto harshly on the back.

Giotto nods and looks between his men. Seeing that they are all ready to go and save his great great-great-great-grandson, Primo claps once and abruptly they have all disappeared too. The regular Mafioso around drop their jaws in awe of the three spectacular exits. How could they ever hope to contend with that? _That_ was why Vongola were the Number One Family.

"Kekeke, You think we're gonna let you in that easily?" comes a squeaky voice from behind the horde of Mafia Row Residents. They look backwards towards the forest and find themselves surrounded by men in Bull Fighting uniforms. "Although I'd be running if I were you. I certainly wouldn't want to enter the Devil's lair. The Arco Iris are the scariest people in the entirety of Spain. If they say jump, we don't bother with asking how high, we'd be dead before we even said one word."

The Bosses of the Nuevo, Tomaso, Chiavarone and Giglio Nero all turn with toothy feral grins on their faces, some of them cracking their knuckles. What, they were Mafioso. And all of them were itching for a fight.

"Gamma," says Aria, pulling out one of the custom guns that her Famiglia had gotten her. "I do believe we should hold down the fort here. I'm sure Mother would appreciate less interference."

Gamma nods, and the rest of the Giglio Nero bring out their own weapons too. "I do believe my Lady would like that, Princess." He agrees.

There are noises from the back of the crowd along with a few screams. One of the Giegue pops out of the crowd of Enemies with his nailed club held high. "You'd better hurry up, we're already on 15," he comments in Italian before whacking the next man who came at him. "Make that 16."

From then on, madness ensued as Mafia Row went against the Spanish Mafioso. It basically all devolved into one huge contest, with shouts of battle scores and taunts flying across the forest clearing like bullets. Even if they weren't friends usually, only united under the tentative banner of Mafia Row residents, the common goal shared between them all allowed them to put their differences aside.

All because of one small boy.

* * *

><p>"Oy, Boss. They've started to move in. There is a 100% chance that the fake Arco Iris have entered the building. There is a 96% chance that reinforcements have also entered the building. The fake Arco Iris's time entering the building was 2.46 seconds with a Standard Deviation of 0.5 seconds from the start of the boy's scream." The woman pulls up her glasses and readjusts her pigtails before going back to typing.<p>

The Boss chuckles. "Good job Morganna. Go have fun." The woman at the computers nods before reaching under her desk and bringing out a new type of keyboard. This one had lots of coloured buttons and switches on it.

"Hell's Path, activating."

Hearing a slight click in the otherwise silent hallway, Lal and Colonnello jump backwards, holding their weapons up infront of them. The floor where they had just been standing crumbles, leaving a dark black hole in it's place. Colonnello kicks a stone in, waiting for it to hit the bottom. But as far as he can tell it doesn't.

Lal suddenly pushes Colonnello to the wall as a flurry of poisoned tipped darts fly past.

"Aw, I didn't know you cared, Lal." Cheekily smiles Colonnello before squeezing Lal in a quick hug and slipping past her to run down the corridor. Lal turns a bright red before angrily running after her flirtatious student. Colonnello rolls under a pair of axes that appear out of the walls, Lal following a split second behind. When Lal sees a small hole open in the wall and the glint of a silencer, she tackles Colonnello to the ground. The bullets go over their heads, instead of into Colonnello's back like they would have if she wasn't here. However, the floor that they landed on is slippery and the pair roll down a gradient and into a large stone room.

"How many times have I told you to watch your back?" she grumbles, getting up from the floor. "You are in for hell when we get back." Colonnello rolls his eyes but still smiles at her anyway.

"On the contrary missy, Hell starts right here."

Before they can even look properly, the COMSUBIN members shoot off their riffles, only using the sound for targeting.

"Olé!" the man shouts, gracefully spinning under the bullets.

"The Italian Mafia's Strongest Marksmen and Trap Masters, Lal and Colonnello, have entered Romain's room. Their chance of survival: 37%. If they stop bickering long enough, 40%."

"Now now, is that anyway to great your host?" the man pouts. "But why the rush?" he asks, as the pair continue to aim and fire at him. "You're only decreasing the time you have left to live. For I'm not letting you out of here alive." The man, Romain, turns serious and stops dodging the bullets in favour of running straight for Lal. Lal keeps on firing until the man gets too close to comfort. Under Colonnello's covering fire, she swings the riffle to lie across her back and instead draws out her knives.

Lal and Romain clash, her swinging at his outstretched arm as he attempts to punch her in the jaw. She ducks under the punch before using her leg to sweep the man off his feet. Romain jumps over her foot before skipping backwards a few paces to avoid Colonnello's sniper shots. Now that there was distance between the enemy and Lal, Colonnello switches guns and brings out his anti-tank riffle. Laying it on the ground, he lays down and peers through the sight, taking aim and firing off the first shot.

Strangely, the man jumps to the left, closer to the bullet, rather than to the right where there was more room. Running in whilst Romain was distracted, Lal takes another swipe with her knives, this time scoring down the man's entire right arm. The enemy grabs her wrist and flips her to the floor, ducking under another anti-tank bullet in the process. Lal glares up at the man before attempting to push up from the floor to kick him. However there is no floor to push up from and her face flashes in shock for a moment before she falls.

Just in time she manages to grab the edge of the floor before she fell into green water below.

"LAL!" Colonnello shouts, watching her fall down the newly appeared hole in the floor. He grits his teeth and sends a few more bullets in the man's direction. He was sure that Lal was going to be okay. Something as small as that wasn't going to take her out. He would know since he's tried before during training.

Lal was not confortable at the moment. Since she had been laying down on the ground before falling, she currently had her back to the wall and her arm reaching up backwards to cling to the floor. Her shoulder screamed at her as she pushed against the wall to turn herself around. There was little purchase on the smooth walls of the trap, but pushing against the wall harshly once again gave her the momentum she needed to lift herself up.

With her head and arms now above floor level, she grabs the enemy's foot and tugs harshly. Colonnello uses that moment to shoot another bullet, this one embedding in the man's left hip.

Lal climbs out of the hole in the floor, sending a knife into Romain's unprotected back. She runs off a little way to allow her to regain her breath back. As she runs over another square of the monochrome-checked floor, it once again falls out from underneath her. But this time she jumps over it. Suspicious, Colonnello rolls a few of the bullet shells around him. Three of the squares around his position disappear.

"Lal, the floor's rigged!" he warns. He leans up slightly to take a look at what traps he could have fallen into and grimaces. They were COMSUBIN level traps. They were not dealing with an amateur.

"I know that already dumbass!" Lal retorts taking stock of the area around her. She hadn't noticed it before, but when she had been running around the room earlier, some of the black square tiles had disappeared. It was hard to tell which ones had fallen and which had not. "We're going to need a plan." She mumbles.

* * *

><p>"See, I told you to the extreme that all churches have this secret entrance!"<p>

"Would you shut the hell up or we'll get noticed, you religious fanatic idiot!"

"Maa, maa, there's no need to get excited and raise your voices."

"We're not getting excited flute freak!"

"Giotto, should we ditch them?" asks Cozart, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the arguing buffoons behind them. Giotto sighs before rubbing his temples.

"That might be a good idea. Alaude and Daemon have already gone ahead as soon as Knuckle showed us this entrance. I bet they're already in the thick of things." Giotto agrees. The childhood friends nod at each other before sneaking off.

Hearing screams and the sounds of a fight coming from up ahead, the pair run quicker towards the small band of light in front of them. Pushing the stone door open further, they find that Alaude and Daemon have indeed already gotten into fights, with many uniformed men already lying unconscious on the ground.

"I think they've got this covered." Cozart comments, before he and Giotto go and sit at the foot of an angel statue, watching the pair fight. They were doing a marvellous job, the two Bosses had to admit.

"Ua-ah-ah." Cozart says in a telling off voice before flicking his fingers. A few of the Uniformed men running for the door go flying away from it and towards the ball of gravity Cozart had conjured up. "There's no time to run now. Remember you guys started this."

Giotto spots a few men running for the opposite door. But before he can light his Flames and go after them, they fall to the ground with arrows in their backs. "Finally joined the party?" Giotto asks as he looks up to see G. standing there with his bow raised, letting another arrow fly into a fleeing enemy's back.

"Che, you couldn't keep me away if you tried. Someone's got to look after you two." G. grins before letting another arrow fly.

"OI, you cannot do that to the holy scriptures!" shouts Knuckle, running over and punching an enemy who was about to knock Alaude over the head from behind with the Bible.

"Ore-sama shall stay here." Lampo announces, sitting down at Giotto and Cozart's feet. "To, you know, protect our escape route… or something." He whimpers as a bullet wizzes past his face and lands in the statue before quickly hiding behind his lucky shield.

"Guys," Giotto starts in a voice that can be heard over the clangs of battle. "You are not to let anyone leave this room, understood?"

* * *

><p>"Ushi~ shi~ shi~ <em>The Varia's Number one, skilled in battle sense, Prince the Ripper, it's not gallantry~<em> Ushi~ shi~ shi~" Belphegor sings as he skips down the corridor. "Oh look, you've all prepared yourselves for the Prince's arrival!"

Somehow, despite entering through different entrances, the Varia had all managed to end up in the same room, with a set of steps leading underground infront of them. A huge hole in the wall shows how Xanxus and Squalo had entered, no doubt with Levi trailing behind. Lussuria had entered through a side door and Belphegor had, of course, arrived through the main door of the room.

"The Prince shall go first, as is his princely right!" declares Belphegor, jumping down the stairs before the others could protest.

"Voooiii! Come back here Belphegor! Little kids should go last!" Squalo shouts, following Belphegor with his sword flying around in the air in a menacing manner.

"Oh look, the Prince's welcoming party have arrived! Bow down before me peasants!"

There was a collection of Uniformed Spaniards waiting for them as they arrived at the bottom of the stairs. Hearing the tell-tale sign, the Varia duck down as one, letting the shots from Xanxus' X-Guns fly over their heads. Boss was so impatient sometimes. The Mafiosi at the front fall down under Xanxus's attack.

Needless to say, the Varia work their way through all who appear infront of them, not really being impartial. There were the odd shouts of "Vooii! That one was mine!" and "Mou~ Too slow hunny~" and a constant background noise of "Ushishishi", Prince remarks, demands of bowing and calls of knife and wire judgement. The sounds of walls exploding, of men grunting in pain and for one certain person, the sound of blood splattering on the floor, was like music to their ears. It was safe to say that the Varia were having fun. Wasn't that nice?

* * *

><p>"The Italian Mafia's Best Scientist and Martial Artist, Verde and Fon, have entered Ferdinand's Domain. Their survival rate is 45%."<p>

"Why so high?" the Boss asks.

"Respect for a fellow Intellectual."

"But he's a Scientist and you're a Mathematician."

"So?"

Verde and Fon stood back to back, panting to catch their breath. Verde wipes some blood away from his eye before placing some butterfly stitches over it to help stop the bleeding. He turns around and uses his scalpel to cut away a strip of cloth from his lab coat. Carefully removing the knife from Fon's arm, he quickly starts to wrap the make shift bandage around it.

"2 meters behind you, about 30 degrees clockwise I'd say." Fon mumbles, looking over Verde's shoulder. The Scientist grabs a vial from his lab coat before throwing it in the direction Fon had specified. The vial crashes and a satisfying hiss along with quieting robotic beeps sounds, making Verde smile.

Noticing Verde's eyes flick from his arm to somewhere over his left shoulder, Fon immediately kicks out in that direction, feeling his foot connect with a metal chassis. The robot goes flying into some more robots and then into the wall. "I'll get those." Verde offers, walking over towards the pile of fallen robots. Fon nods in agreement, letting the Scientist do what he did best.

After a few minutes of fighting, the pair had settled into a routine. Fon knocked the robots to the floor and Verde (with some surprisingly quick Scientist-ninja moves) cut the wires leading to their power sources and dismantled the robots. Their plan wasn't fool-proof, as shown by the wounds the pair had already sustained. Fon couldn't be everywhere to knock robots down and protect Verde, nor was Verde quick enough to dismantle all of the hundreds of robots surrounding them currently.

Another vial of acid goes flying, melting through the metal of the robot's bodies and through the rubber casing of the internal wires. Fon reaches into his robes and brings out a pair of nunchucks, which would do a better job of denting the robot's bodies. Plus it saved him from harming his feet and knuckles any further. Striking metal constantly had done quite a bit of damage already, without the wounds conflicted through the robot's attacks.

Fon spins the nunchucks around his body, behind his back, over his head, and under his arm, the whole time crunching through robots with the other end. However he notices something on the ceiling that really shouldn't be there. Ripping a part of his robes off- it was hanging off anyway- he goes over to where some wires are sparking and sets the piece of material alight. Jumping from robot to robot that were in a pile in the corner (Verde left them there after dismantling them, something to do with having a clear workspace at all times and methodical processes) and holds the flame under a box on the ceiling. Within seconds alarms are blaring and water falls from the ceiling.

Verde looks disgruntled, wiping drops of water off his glasses as he glares at Fon. The martial artist just shrugs and gives Verde a smile. "Well, it's working isn't it?" Verde couldn't protest since the water from the fire sprinklers was indeed short circuiting out the robots. Verde turns around and stalks through the door opposite to where they had entered from. "Follow or else I'll blow you up too."

Fon shakes his head at Verde's comment before following the Scientist. Verde chucks a few metal cubes into the room. They fizz on contact with the water before exploding. The whole room is filled and the blast is felt by the pair who were quite a distance away already. Fon looks over Verde's shoulder to see him typing away on some sort of small hand held device that was glowing in different shades of green. He recognised the screen as some sort of radar.

"What's that for?" He asks, following when the scientist takes a left turn.

"I'm tracking down the radio wave signals that was controlling the robots. I want to meet the man who created them. His design was a good one, one of the best I have seen so far." Verde explains, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

Fon grimaces slightly. "Verde, I do not believe you should be complimenting the enemy in such situations." Verde just shrugs, it's not like he cared for that kind of thing. His ideas of normalcy and what not to do didn't exactly align with everyone else's.

"Here we go." Verde announces, twisting the handle of a door.

* * *

><p>There was one member of the Varia that had not gone with the others, and that was their temporary Cloud. Their Cloud changed on a daily basis depending on who Xanxus liked at the time and who he had not killed already. Xanxus was picky with his officers. Her name was Mich, and she was a weapon's master. You name it and as long as it wasn't a gun, she was good with it. From swords (although she left those to Squalo in general) to scythes, to brass knuckles, staffs, maces, shuriken, anything she could get her hands on.<p>

She crept along the corridors by herself, sticking close to the shadows of the wall to blend in. She had found an entrance in the forest that no one else had gone down. It had taken her a while to get back into the wide halls of the church, but she seemed to be two or three levels underground. Using a mirror to look around a corner, she spots two men in Bull Fighter Uniforms guarding a door. She slides her blowgun out from its place strapped to her leg and inserts two poisoned darts from her belt. Slowly leaning around the corner, she shoots the darts and the two guards fall to the floor unconscious without making a sound.

Mich creeps along the hallway towards the pair, keeping an eye out for movement from either of them. Coming to the door, she places an ear against it and listens to what's inside.

"Sugar, it seems like we underestimated the fake Arco Iris. It might be better to retreat and regroup."

Carefully opening the door, Mich steps inside. However the door creaks and the man inside turns around.

"How did you get in here?" he demands, pointing a gun at her.

"Pfft. In here? It was far too easy. Now tell me where Tsunayoshi is before I send you to an early grave."

* * *

><p><strong>Go all you sadistic fans out there! The Right Hand Man is yours to torture and maim as you wish. Feel free to take out all your rage at Tsunayoshi being captured on him. That's my present to you all. I hope you like it. Also feel free to tell me what you do with him, I'm interested. And now you know why I called her Michmyself. It's a weird way to do a reader-insert without breaking the rules, smart eh?**

**I'm stopping the chapter here. The fight shall be continued next chapter. I didn't mean to end this chapter on a cliff-hanger like this, but I didn't leave myself enough time to finish the chapter. Fight scenes took longer than I remember them taking. Oh well, it just means more for you all to read. **

**See you all next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 22 November 2012**

So as we now all know, the 'Man in the Cell' is TYL! Canon! Gokudera. But I'm so proud of the many of you who wrote either Alternate Dimension, Canon, or Storm. That means you're really taking in what I'm writing and that's such a compliment. And I also love those guys who actually spent the time to copy and paste quote to prove their points. Some people practically wrote essays. God I love you all so much! I'm over the moon!

So I thought I'd share with you all of the clues that I put in there for those of you who were wondering. I'll be deciding on the winner/s of the Omake later. It's going to be hard since so many of you actually decided to write all 12 reasons. I didn't expect so many responses.

There were three clues to who the man was not. These were:

1-That someone else made the sushi, meaning it wasn't Yamamoto in the cell

2-A healer friend. This could have been either Dr Shamal or Ryohei.

3-He names Sky, and Tsuna wouldn't call himself Sky. Plus the last time the pair got close to each other, Tsunayoshi fainted. And Gokudera gave him an assignment to do a few chapters ago anyway.

4-Now that I think about it, there is four. Gokudera makes reference to being the only person to talk to Verde, meaning it wasn't going to be Verde either.

Now for the clues that he was Gokudera:

1-"Che," Quite an obvious one. It was something that I made extra sure not to put in last chapter since I thought it would give it away too easily.

2-"Flick of a Lighter" In the Manga, Gokudera smokes to light his dynamites up.

3-"Tsunayoshi didn't understand a word of what came next" Gokudera is a genius and when explaining things tends to go about it in a scientific manner that Tsuna can never understand- think of how he tried to teach Tsuna to swim.

4-"The person that the not-stranger looked like" Not really a clue to Gokudera specifically, but shows that it must be someone that Tsunayoshi knows as a child that looks similar all grown up.

5-"I'm one of the few people he bothers talking to" This could be linked to the 3rd point, and indeed many of you put them together, but Verde would only stand intelligent people, which Gokudera is.

6-"Hear his voice coming from you makes me forget" Again not really a clue to Gokudera specifically, but it does show that it must be someone that knew Tsuna from a young age, this limits it to the Guardians and the Arcobaleno.

7-'Naughty words' Obviously I don't swear in this fic, but Gokudera does and is the only Guardian to swear so often.

8-"The light gets closer to the ground and the noise of something hitting the floor" Gokudera's self-punishment bowing apologises. Gokudera is the only one to bow like this.

9-"Someone I admire greatly" and who admires Sky more than Gokudera?

10-"Idiot Friend" Whilst already being a reference to who he is not, only Gokudera calls Yamamoto an Idiot

11-"Feeding it to Ur-um, my pet cat" He nearly mentions feeding sushi to Uri, who is Gokudera's pet Leopard/cat.

12-"Trust this man explicitly" As a right hand man, there would be no one that a Boss!Tsuna would trust more.

13-"The Last person to use poisoned food" After being poisoned by Bianchi so often through food, I doubt that Gokudera would use this technique himself.

14-"No one knows that I'm here" To get here without anyone knowing would mean activating the Space/Time transporter. If you remember back in the Bovino chapter, Shoichi, Spanner and Verde had all been there to transport Tsuna back home. As such someone would have to be smart to activate it by themselves, so it had to be Gokudera.

15-"I've been in a similar situation before" This could either be a reference to it being an Adult that Tsunayoshi was talking to, or a reference to Gokudera's time in the Mafia as a child after he ran away from home. Gokudera has been in the Mafia the longest, and therefore possibly been in some sort of kidnapping/hostage situation before.

16-"The man is embarrassed. Sounds like Lal" As many of you put it, Gokudera being a Tsundere, just like Lal can be sometimes. He goes all red when he's doing something that goes against his delinquent façade.

17-"Babble Incoherently" Only Gokudera would do this when caught doing something nice or complimented.

18-"Oh St. Mary" I didn't expect anyone to get this one although I think someone guessed at it. Gokudera was brought up in Italy which is quite a Catholic place, hence why this Saint in particular. Also Gokudera is most likely the only one to pray to a Christian figure rather than using the Japanese equivalent.

19-"The stuttering" practically the same as point 17. Gokudera wouldn't like to admit to caring for someone so directly.

20-"Damn my orders" The phrasing in particular, but I'd imagine Gokudera as someone to defy orders to save Tsuna in any form.

21-A clue from a previous chapter, but Storm left Sky's office with a smile on his face. He was going to make Sky proud of him by going and looking after Tsunayoshi.

_See, wasn't I nice only asking for 12_.


	56. Whoever has dared

Chapter 56:

Whoever has dared

**I'm glad you all liked Mich. Although I am now scared of you all. If I ever do something to annoy you lot, and I get tortured by you, I'm doomed to a very slow highly excruciating death. Some of you were really imaginative… which scares me too, to be honest. Are you sure none of you are actually Mafioso?**

* * *

><p>She was silent.<p>

And for anyone who knew this woman, silence was dangerous. Silence from Lady Luce De Giglio Nero meant either one of two things. One, she was having a vision, or two, she was angry, on an apocalyptic scale. If Luce was annoyed, she either grumbled under her breath or talked in a highly patronising tone. When she was happy, she didn't stop talking. When bored, she hummed, when ill, she moaned and groaned and complained. When disappointed, she tutted, when rendered 'speechless' a fangirl scream was soon to follow into the moments pause.

She was never silent.

But walking down these halls, wielding a golf club she had found somewhere, she was.

"Ahh! Run, for heavens sake, Jorge, there's a demon on the loose."

"Pah, what ya scared of? We're supposed to be defeating those that believe in the fake Arco Iris, not running from them. Ya pansy."

Suddenly there is a crack in the wall before it crumbles in a pile of dust. The wall collapses, revealing Luce, still in a pure white dress (the dust was that scared of her, or it was some sort of Luce magic), lowering her golf club and raising her head. She locks eyes with the two men and both cower before her. It was those eyes. Jorge could see what his partner was saying about her being a demon. Those eyes seemed unearthly, like they were staring straight into your soul and ripping out every secret you had ever tried to hide. Those eyes pierced an ice cold fear straight into the heart. No human had those eyes.

She leans the golf club against her leg before reaching inside her large hat and pulling out two rubber ducks. Picking the golf club back up, she drops one rubber duck. "DUCK!" she shouts before swinging. Three seconds later, the two enemies fall to the ground, rubber duck shapes engraved in their necks where their windpipes had been squashed. "Well, I did tell you to duck. It's you own silly fault for not listening to me." She admonishes. "Cosmo dear." She prompts. The squirrel runs down from it's perch on her hat with two pieces of rope in it's jaws. A few moments later, the two men have their ankles and wrists tied together.

And so Luce moves on.

"Hihihihi," comes a high pitched titter as Luce enters a wide room filled with mirrors. "Oh God, hunny, what are you wearing? Do you have a child stored under that hat of yours? I don't think that has ever been in fashion." Luce grits her teeth. No. One. Dissed. The Hat. That hat was a Family heirloom, worn for over 400 years. She was proud to wear it.

Luce looks up and analyses the woman standing before her. Red Flamenco Dress, red rose, black fan, black heels.

"Oooh~ I love those eyes. I know that look. I've got something you want and you're going to stop at nothing to get it, right? Yeah, I thought so. It's the little cutie that I took such… _good_ care of." It sure didn't sound like this lady had taken good care of Tsunayoshi, quite the opposite in fact. She stands up and walks towards the centre of the room. "Us ladies know how to do these things properly, right. My name is Maria, and yours?"

"You are addressing Lady Luce of the Giglio Nero Mafia Famiglia and leader of the Arcobaleno." Luce replies in a cool formal voice. Maria sneers at the formal treatment, feeling like Luce was making herself out as superior. "**And Tsunayoshi's Mother**." Maria grins evilly at this statement.

"Come dance with me Chica," Maria announces, throwing a white fan at Luce. It lands at her feet. Leaning down, Luce picks the fan up before walking slowly towards Maria. They meet at the centre of the room and stare each other in the eyes, which was easy since they were of the same height.

Somewhere in the background, tango music starts.

With a loud snap, Luce flicks the fan open before swinging the metal edge at Maria. Maria takes a step backwards and two to the side, just like the tango steps dictated. Luce follows, taking a few more swings.

"You need to work on your aim," says Maria. Luce just stops and smiles. As Maria stops, the train of her Flamenco dress falls off, sliced by the fan.

Luce grabs Maria by the hand and pulls her close, almost nose to nose. Her hand harshly grabs Maria's hip, sure to leave a bruise, before pushing Maria backwards and into the next steps of the tango.

"How nice of you to take the male's part," Maria says, her voice patronising and false. Luce grins, also in a scarily false way before stepping down hard on Maria's foot. The woman grimaces as she moves her weight onto her unharmed foot. Luce uses that moment to push Maria into a spin. Maria has no choice but to follow but ends up slamming into the mirror on the wall. The glass cracks.

"Oh dear, sorry," pouts Luce, pulling the woman to her before she can recover.

Maria shakes off the shock of the impact, ignoring the blood running down her shoulder. She flicks her foot out, hooking it around Luce's and tripping the hatted woman, sending her crashing to the floor. "Oh no, I'm sorry." She takes a step forwards and presses her heel onto Luce's hand, crushing one of the bones of her finger. Luce hisses but doesn't openly cry out. She'd taken worse than this before now. Maria shuts her fan with a snap before leaning down and pressing it under Luce's chin. "Poor Chica, can't take the heat?"

Maria screams as something small, fluffy and rat like suddenly jumps on her face and starts to claw at her eyes. Cosmo runs around the enemy's face, biting and scratching where he can, pulling out some hair too. Luce flicks her wrist and then there is a rolling pin in her hand from the kitchen she had walked through earlier. She hits Maria's knees hard, forcing the woman off of her and climbs back to her feet before pinning Maria to the ground. With another flick of her wrist, a kitchen knife is in Luce's hands.

"Tell me where my son is." Luce demands. She was sure that this woman knew where Tsunayoshi was. Piece by piece, Luce removes the accessories from Maria's dress, starting with the rose and all of the hair attached to it. When Maria doesn't answer the question, Luce continues her 'torture' by getting out a permanent marker. Cosmo jumps off Maria's face and onto Luce's hat. Placing the pen against the woman's cheek, she draws a tear drop. "I have a whole selection of these coloured markers. I could make you look like a clown forever. Wouldn't that be lovely? A dancing clown?" She moves over and draws a cross on the other cheek.

"You cow! Stop it! I worked hard to make myself presentable!" Maria demands, squirming to get out of the hold Luce had her in.

"But you took such _good_ care of Tsunayoshi, I've certainly got to repay you for that." Luce smirks a downright dangerous smirk.

* * *

><p>"The Italian Mafia's Best Psychic and Stuntman, Mammon and Skull, have entered Dominic's quarters. Their chance of survival, 20%."<p>

Viper and Skull shiver as a piercing scream echoes down the corridors. Wasn't that the direction they had seen Luce heading in? That didn't matter right now.

"Are you sure that you're leading the great Skull-sama in the right direction?" asks Skull, still running on adrenaline. Viper looks down at her thoughtography map and nods her head.

"Yes, we have to take the next left." Viper says, just as Skull turns right.

"Ahaha, Of course I knew that!" Skull laughs before marching off in the correct direction. Viper shakes her head under her hood. She was not getting paid enough for this. Well, she wasn't getting paid anything, which certainly wasn't enough, but to be stuck with Skull like this deserved some type of bonus surely.

"TSUNAYOSHI! THE GREATEST STUNTMAN TO EVER LIVE, THE IMMORTAL SKULL THAT EVEN THE REAPER IS SCARED OF IS COMING TO SAVE YOU!" Skull shouts before running full speed down the corridor, somehow dodging every trap that came his way. Viper let him run on, instead ducking under the already activated traps, making her journey a breeze.

Skull, amazingly, trips on the doorstop, making a grand entrance into some sort of dojo like room. Skull, being _'trained'_ in spectacular crashes, somehow makes it look far more complicated and painful than the simple forwards roll it really was, before finishing in some sort of pose that would have made his fans go crazy. Sadly, none were around, causing an awkward silence.

Viper feels like face-palming but doesn't because it's, you know, not like her, and steps into the room after looking over it. She nudges Skull with her foot. "Oi, idiot, get up." Skull looks around, realises that he doesn't have an audience and laughs nervously as he stands back up.

There is a slight hiss behind Viper and Skull's eyes widen. But due to the blacked out helmet, Viper can't see that. Skull barely has enough time to hug Viper protectively and spin them around before brass knuckles brush against his back. The metal pierces through his leather jacket, creating tears not only in the material but also in Skull's skin, leading to bleeding gashes. Pushing Viper backwards, Skull spins around and sends his own fist into the man behind him. It's caught in one highly muscled hand and squeezed tightly.

"Owie, ow ow, owie!" says Skull, his voice slightly more high pitched than usual. Two knives slide past Skull's shoulders, burying themselves in the wrist tendons of Skull's captor. He lets go and Skull scampers backwards to stand back by Viper's side.

The man, Dominic, blinks and stares at his wrist, flexing his fingers stiffly as they seem to be unresponsive. Eventually his fingers start moving again, to the man looks up towards his enemies. Then he laughs.

"Bwahahaha! You're part of the Arco Iris?!" he booms, the sound filling the room. "No wonder that brat lost the fight so easily if he had role models like you pipsqueak girls."

"Hey! It's amazing StuntMAN, not Woman thank you!" Skull shouts back, offended. Viper, of course doesn't care. She'd get payback later.

"What do you mean by fighting a brat earlier?" Viper asks suspiciously.

"Ya know, the one that's bait. He was harassing my Boss so I came in and taught him a lesson. Didn't even last a full minute. He was even trying to defend himself with a frying pan. Like that was going to help."

The pair realise what this means. There was only one person that would be used as bait, and that was their Tsunayoshi. The man before them had **harmed** their precious Tsunayoshi. It was time to pay up. Big Time.

Skull runs at the man with a shout of rage before punching the man in the stomach. He quickly follows this up with punches to the jaw, the chest and another to the stomach.

Dominic coughs before looking up. "Is that all you got?" he asks, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Skull pulls back his hand to deal another punch to the gut, but Dominic is surprised by a chop to the back of the head. He looks up, expecting it to have been the cloaked woman instead. But there she was, straight in front of him. He freezes upon looking at her. He cannot see her face since it is in the shadows of her hood. But what he can see are two purple eyes of fire. There is a purple sheen all around her, almost like a glow, especially concentrated around her hands. He is forced to look away when he is slapped across the face.

Shaking his head, he swings one meaty fist out around him, knocking into Skull- who wasn't where his eyes told him Skull should be- and sending the stuntman flying across the room. He runs at Viper. Seeing this, she creates more illusionary knives and throws them Belphegor-style at the man. He flinches at the first one, but continues on running like a freight train. He reaches out to grapple her, but ends up half hugging a mass of helmet and leather instead.

Skull gasps as the air of forced out of him by the grip Dominic had on him. Since his arms were pinned, he kicks at the man instead, one kick in particular landing somewhere it shouldn't. The man buckles as if hit by a football in the ribs and drops Skull. Viper takes advantage of this pain to reach inside the enemy's mental barriers and multiplies that pain. Dominic lets out a high pitched gasp before stutterd constants are the only sound he produces. Even Skull has to feel sorry for the guy.

"Tell me where Tsunayoshi is." She demands, walking over to stand next to the man's head. When he doesn't answer, Skull kicks him in the stomach, which was already taught from pain. Dominic coughs before sneaking out a hand and grabbing Viper's foot. He drags her to the ground, before tossing her over his shoulder and flying to the other side of the room. Gasping, he stands up and looks over to where she landed. Smirking, he starts to walk over towards her.

Skull doesn't like the look of Viper's condition; she wasn't exactly built for battle. Being an illusionist suited her small fragile stature. Being in the Varia usually means she had more than enough protection. Plus for some reason, her illusions didn't seem to be that effective. He jumps on the man's back and places him in a choke hold. Dominic grabs Skull's arm as they struggle. Skull holds on for as long as he can, watching as the man turned darker and darker shades of red. However, Dominic eventually gets a firm hold on Skull and flips the stuntman to the floor. But he doesn't let go of Skull's arm and keeps on twisting, eventually dislocating the shoulder. Skull grunts, biting his lip, but the pain doesn't really faze him that much.

Dominic drops Skull's arm and stomps on his stomach in revenge before continuing his walk towards Viper. Viper gets to her feet before conjuring another illusion. This time, her mental hands delve deeper into the man's mind drawing out a picture of a woman.

When a scream resonates through the room, the man freezes and looks over his shoulder. "Julia!" There he sees his beloved Julia held at knifepoint by Belphegor, the Prince wearing his Cheshire Cat grin as usual.

"Want to see how pretty her blood is? I'm sure I can paint a wonderful picture for you! Shishishi~" Belphegor spins the knife on his finger before pressing it harder against the crying woman's throat, drawing blood.

Dominic tears his eyes away and takes another step towards Viper. "No, stop it. She's not even in the country. There's no way for them to have found her." He takes another hesitant step, still half looking over his shoulder. "It's not HER!" He keeps on mumbling to himself.

"AHHH, Dominic! Help me! Please!" she shouts, her screams becoming more and more frantic as the seconds tick past.

"Ushishishi, what dainty hands, oops, gone now." Giggles Belphegor, the woman's screams matching the supposed action. "What a lovely shade of red, and so much of it too. Worthy of the Prince, well done."

Dominic grits his teeth. "Remember the breathing exercises that Master taught. Breathe, it's not real."

'_Damn, another martial artist,'_ internally curses Viper to herself. That would explain why her illusions were weaker against him. She found similar results with Fon every now and again. They were on equal terms currently. But his training gave him a degree of mental control that few others had. If this man was good enough to dare to try and claim the title of the Best in the World, then he must have been trained to a high degree too.

As the sounds of his lover's screams slowly disappear, Dominic stops shaking and instead runs straight towards Viper. A brief look over his shoulder shows no sign of Julia, the Varia member or the supposed blood on the floor, all having been an illusion.

If Skull had not watched the illusion arrive in Reality in a cloud of indigo mist, he wouldn't have known the difference. And to be honest, he was rather weirder out by Viper's interpretation of Belphegor. He hoped that it was all an act and that the small child, not much older than Tsunayoshi, wasn't really like that.

As Dominic advanced on her, Viper tries to regain her breath. Holding illusions strong enough to affect her enemy like that was exhausting, especially when she had a cracked rib from her earlier meeting with the wall. She turns and runs, but her hand is caught by Dominic. He harshly closes his fist, breaking a few bones in her hand in the process. She's tugged and pulled around before Dominic starts to hit her with some moves from a martial arts style she had never seen before.

But after one or two blows, Dominic is pushed to the side and straddled by Skull, who still has his arm hanging limply by his side. With a quick jolt and a hiss, he places his shoulder back into it's socket before throwing a barrage of punches down on the man's unprotected head. After the fourth or fifth strike, Skull's fists come away bloody from a broken nose and split eyebrow.  
>"Tell me where you're keeping Tsunayoshi!" Skull demands as he lowers his fist once more. If only he had his motorbike here with him, he'd surely have the upper hand!<p>

With a roar of defiance, Dominic reverses their positions. But with his eyes clouded by blood, he doesn't do it correctly, leaving Skull with his arms free.

Viper, leaning against a wall, nurses her cracked rib and broken hand whilst watching the brawl on the floor between the two. Despite not being trained in any form of self-defence except what he had taught himself, Skull was putting up a good fight through sheer determination alone. More and more cuts appear on both parties, caused by the metal studs on Skull's gloves, or the brass knuckles Dominic still had on.

Viper really wanted to help Skull, she wanted Tsunayoshi back just as much as he did. But her illusions weren't working on the enemy before them. So there was only one other way in which she could help_... _It was a good thing that Skull had low mental defences.

Skull blinks as suddenly the pain in his body goes away. He was never really one for feeling pain, which was good considering his profession, but at the moment there was nothing, not even a numb buzzing. In fact he felt fresher than ever before. He felt like Superman! Only he was much cooler than Superman. The enemy currently on top of him was even moving in slow motion. How cool was that! He could see the next punch coming and attack before it arrived.

He could… He could win this!

* * *

><p>"The Leader of the Italian Mafia's Police Force, Bermuda, had now entered Pan's zone. Survival rate is unknown."<p>

"Unknown?"

"Not much is known about the Vindice. Every member of the Italian Mafia is scared of them. They rule with an iron fist. There are even rumours that they are not human. Therefore I do not have enough data to draw a reliable forecast."

This was far too easy. He hadn't even needed to move from his position. The man before him was no match when he couldn't even get close to Bermuda.

"At this rate you shall be proven guilty of your crimes." Bermuda warns, flicking another chain out towards the wooden spear that was thrown at him. The enemy before him seemed rather eco-friendly. A weird trait to notice, but considering the man's random babblings, a true one.

With an absent wave of his hand, the pair of chains go zooming towards their targets like attacking snakes. But they waver before they get there and fall to the ground.

Bermuda coughs violently, barely able to catch his breath between them. He leans forwards as his chest contracts and manages to take in a gasping breath before coughing up some blood. Bermuda falls to his knees, the world spinning around him, making him nauseous. He feels the sting of a wooden arrow scrape against his arm but he doesn't care at the moment. He can't even get his brain to focus. All his brain can think about it getting air into his screaming lungs. But with the coughing fit, that's not possible.

"What have.. you done.. to me?" he asks between breaths, doing his best to glare at the blond man before him.

"So you are human after all," hums the man, walking forwards towards Bermuda. The man smiles when they make eye contact (or when it feels like they've made eye contact, it was hard to tell with Bermuda's bandages) and takes in a deep breath before smiling. "How do you like my latest poison gas? Brand new, never seen before, invisible with no odour or taste. Magnificent isn't it? I worked very hard on it."

The blond walks over to a panel in the wall before pressing a green button. A small part of the wall disappears and a fully grown snow panther stalks out before curling around it's master's feet.

Bermuda forces himself to stop coughing long enough to be able to get a good view of what he was facing next. However the pressure to cough becomes too great and he has no choice but to cough once more, leaving more blood smearing his bandages, turning them crimson.

Every now and again, Bermuda wishes that he was like the other Vindice with an undead body. This was one of those times. He didn't often make that wish, knowing about their pasts and the rage for revenge hidden in those bodies, but still, it had it's perks.

Bermuda gathers his will and self-control together. He was Bermuda von Vichtenstein! He wasn't going to be beaten by a mere cough. He was the Leader of the feared Vindice, the owner of the inescapable Vendicare Prisons. NO ONE was better than him!

This man had, however small, had a part in Tsunayoshi's kidnapping. Bermuda wanted Revenge for that. He wanted Revenge for the worry and anxiety caused. He wanted Revenge for putting Tsunayoshi through something so traumatic. For whatever reason, he wanted Revenge and boy damn was he going to get it.

In an instant he is behind the man, kicking the panther away and piercing Pan's leg with one of his chains. Another goes around the man's neck, chocking him as well as lifting him off the ground. The pathetic man struggles, wheezing for breath as he grasps at the chains. But all to no avail.

Pan reaches down and grabs a canister from his belt before spraying the gas inside on Bermuda's face. This one burns, causing Bermuda to shut his eyes in pain. The pain breaks his concentration, causing another set of bloody coughs to rise up Bermuda's throat. His Night Flame fluctuates and disappears, causing the chain to become limp and drop the man.

"Bermuda-sama!" comes a shout from right next to him… or was that above him? If the room stopped spinning then maybe Bermuda could tell.

"Jager?" coughs out Bermuda before spitting on the floor again.

"Yes my lord." Jager confirms, keeping Pan at bay through his aura and glare alone. Of course not being susceptible to the gas that had filled the room was most likely a crucial factor too. "We felt your Flame fluctuate and I came to investigate."

"Capture him and turn this gas off. I can recover later." Bermuda orders in a horse whisper. "Recovery of Tsunayoshi is your top priority."

"Yes, My Lord."

* * *

><p>"Ha… Take that… kora!" Colonnello pants, kicking the unconscious man once more. He walks over a floor covered in spent bullet shells, cracked tiles from explosive shells and pit traps before reaching Lal. She was lying on the floor, panting just as much as he was. "Up we go, kora." Colonnello says, heaving Lal up to lean against his shoulder. "We've gotta find Tsunayoshi, right."<p>

"Damn straight we do. I've gotta teach him to remember not to get captured next time." She grumbles in a voice only half as enthusiastic as usual.

They had managed to defeat Romain through team work. They could work perfectly in sync if they put their minds to it. So long as teacher and student had made each other used to the actions and patterns of the other. So with Colonnello keeping Romain on the run through his sharp shooting Skills, Lal had come in an dealt damage with her knifes. They had even managed to get him to fall into some of his own traps. It hadn't been easy, but they had done it. They had won.

They stumble through a corridor and into a room filled with Mirrors. On the floor, was a woman in the barest remains of a red dress, pinned to the floor with shuriken in the shape of the Giglio Nero Flower, covered in rainbow marker with broken fingers.

Luce finishes whatever work she was doing to the unconscious lady's foot before noticing them and standing up. "There. Let's see her try to apply make up or wear high heels ever again. With her aesthetics, she'll never feel beautiful again." Luce snubs before going over and mother-henning over the pair.

After a few quick patch ups, the three continue on, entering into a room with waxed wooden floors, currently with bloody smudges on them. Skull was currently in the middle of another self-worship session, going on about how he was even better than Superman. Viper is cackling as best as she can with her now broken ribs, counting the money in her hands and dropping the man's raided wallet. By the morning, he wouldn't have any money left in his off-shore accounts.

"Colonnello, grab this idiot." She says. Colonnello passes Lal gently over to Luce before taking ahold of Skull. Viper looks Skull in the eyes. "Prepare yourself. I'm removing the illusions on you. It's going to hurt." Skull doesn't really believe her. But the moment she waves her hands, a wave of pain overcomes him and he falls for a moment.

"Yeooww, owie owie!" He screams like a girl.

"Man up kora!" Colonnello demands, slapping Skull on the back, right over the cuts from earlier. This causes Skull to scream once again. Then he realises that it actually doesn't hurt that much and stops crying. Skull had to be careful though. Just because he couldn't feel the pain as well as normal people could didn't mean it and the damage causing the pain, wasn't there. He could still very well over work and kill himself.

After another quick patch up session- Luce's hat was becoming emptier by the second- they moved on to the next room. Here they found a very happy Verde who looked like a child in the middle of a sweet shop, and Fon, tying a bandage around his arm tighter.

"I see you guys met some of the enemy too," says Fon, gesturing to their injuries. He hands over Verde's Super-First-Aid kit so they can better look after themselves. Verde is forcefully drawn away from the computer to fix some of the more important issues, but not before downloading all of the data onto a flash drive for later inspection.

"I have found Tsunayoshi's location." Says Bermuda, suddenly appearing in the middle of the room. He had changed the bandages covering his face, so there was no more blood around his mouth to worry the others with. The only signs of a fight were the rips on his cloak. And his persistent quiet coughing.

The reminder draws in a serious atmosphere and the group march on behind Bermuda, down to the lowest levels of the Church. Along the way, they hear the sound of a very familiar pair of guns. Turning a corner, they find Reborn, shooting down the last of the subordinates blocking the path. Of course, he still looks immaculate. But that was mainly because he had been dealing with small fry so far. Admittedly they were worthwhile small fry, but nothing he couldn't handle, even in large numbers.

"Now you all arrive, after I've done the hard work and cleared the path," he grumbles, whilst casting an eye and mentally listing the injuries they all had. Liking the results- it seemed that these people might have deserved to reach out for their title- he lowers his fedora and smirks. "Let's go."

The Arcobaleno follow Reborn, going down one last set of steps and into a large cavern. But what they find there is a shock. For there is Tsunayoshi, fighting against who they assume to be the leader with a… with a…

Tiny Dying Will Flame on his forehead.

Reborn turns to the others with harsh eyes. "Who taught him that?" he asks in exasperation. Someone just _had_ to get their first. But the looks the others give him back makes him rethink his previous judgement. If they hadn't and he hadn't, then…

Who had?

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry, another cliff hanger, but I wanted to handle Tsunayoshi's part all in one go instead of across a couple of chapters. <strong>

**And a reminder that you only have until Friday to sign up for the KHR! Secret Santa Mockingjay Rose is holding. **

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 25 November 2012**


	57. To Steal It

Chapter 57:

To Steal It

**Warning: This chapter changes time and POV a lot, sorry.**

* * *

><p><em>"What weapon would you give him anyway?" asks Bermuda. He wondered whether a fight was going to start up over this. It was clear that most of them believed their way of fighting was clearly superior to all of the others.<em>

_"He doesn't need a weapon, only enough martial arts to defend himself." _

_"Che, he obviously should use a hand gun." _

_"He should be trained the COMSUBIN way. He'd be prepared for more than just a silly handgun then." _

_"If he wants something really unique then he should fight with science. Chemical warfare is quite big these days."_

_"I don't think Tsunayoshi needs a weapon since he will always have people around him who will protect him." _

_"Gloves," Whispers Tsunayoshi. He had been watching the argument, head turning to keep track almost like a tennis match across the table. "and Fire." He's not quite sure where that comes from, but he feels like that's the right choice. The others look between themselves and wonder if Tsunayoshi actually meant fire or__Flame__. They had kept him away from the Flames of Vongola and Shimon, however Tsunayoshi had been introduced to them by Bermuda. Not that Bermuda had ever told Tsunayoshi they were Flames, but transportation and moving chains didn't happen on their own, both required Flame Control to use them._

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry Juudaime, please forgive me!" shouts Storm, in his usual bowing position, yet with one added change. His head had been helped to the floor by an immaculate shoe. One belonging to the scariest 12 year old he knew. "But… I don't regret it Juudaime." At this remark, the foot elevated and Storm has the chance to lift his head and stare directly into his Boss's eyes.<p>

Of course his body posture stayed low, admitting submission to the man before him, but just this once, his eyes reflected the Storm others see, eyes he rarely turned on his most important person.

"I'd do it again if I had to. If he is our only hope at keeping everyone alive and safe… at keeping you safe and happy, then I'd do it every time. I know what consequences my actions may have, I'm not like the others. I am the Storm of Vongola, the Wind of Time, and I know how to affect what I touch lightly."

"I'll decide that Storm," says Sky. With technology now advanced enough to mess with Time and Space, their role as part of the Tri-ni-sette was even more important than for any other generation. Before Yuni had returned to the future, he had been drilled endlessly in the consequences of the balance not being protected. And with no Mare helping to keep the balance, the job was harder than ever before. "Explain from the start." Just as Storm takes in a deep breath Sky adds, "Simply. I don't have the time to try and understand your theories."

Storm lets go of the whiteboard he was about to bring out and hid his glasses back into his blazer pocket. "From the beginning. Well, I got the idea of looking after him when you came in flustered the other day. I didn't want you to worry." Sky rolls his eyes at this but still gives Storm a smile, he really couldn't ask for a better friend. " Finding Chibi was easy since we've got the Transdimensional Time Tracker on him so we're always transported to his location, but you already know that. So I just activated the machine and stepped through." Storm continued to explain the trips he had taken to watch over Chibi, with Sky's face growing darker by the second.

"I don't think this counts as lightly, more like a fully blown storm." Sky says, propping his chin on his hand, whilst giving a sharp look to the man on the floor. Storm had disobeyed his orders, which was something that didn't happen often.

"Not true Juudaime. The Arcobaleno would have gotten to him anyway, I just kept him in good condition. If you want to talk about major changes then look at your tuto-"

Storm's head once more harshly meets the floor as the shoe made itself known. Again.

"Reborn, what did you do?" Sky sighs. He could feel a headache coming on already.

The pre-teen smirks. "What, me? I did nothing. All I did was shoot _one_ bullet. **I** didn't even hurt anyone."

But why did Sky think that one bullet did more damage than that?

"Grr, if my time limit wasn't used up, I'd go there myself." Both Storm and the Ex-Sun Arcobaleno make a move to restrain their Sky. But he puts his hands up in a defensive gesture. "BUT I'm not going to. I need to sit and puppy watch."

Storm pales, he didn't like that tone. "Me, Juudaime?" Puppy used to be a nickname but it didn't sound like that now. Storm couldn't even remember who had started that particular trend, but Juudaime was the only one he'd allow to call him that without biting their head off.

"Yes you. You're coming with me right now to get tested. If I find you've gone over the limit, well Primo help me, I won't be happy."

Storm gulped. "Yes Juudaime."

* * *

><p><span>Earlier:<span>

Reborn had woken up from his nap and realised that their headquarters were quiet… too quiet. So he goes and investigates, trying out his new cosplay of a bookcase. A search of the house revealed that everyone was where they were supposed to be… bar one. By some amazing feat, Storm wasn't with Sky. Just as he's walking back to his room to check the security cameras, he runs into the missing man, looking both smug and worried at the same time- admittedly a look that only Storm could pull off well.

Reborn watches as the man passed, not noticing him due to his disguise, and decides he'd find out what the problem was later. Sky needed some 'motivation' to go on this next mission. But when he comes out of that meeting, he can't find the man again. Now that was strange. Usually Reborn could find anyone. Often loud shouts lead people straight to Storm. 10 minutes later, he finds Storm once again, with a determined gleam in his eyes and a dirty smudge on his head, coming out of the space/time thing's room. That was suspicious.

So when Storm not only runs into Dinner late, but apologises and says he's not going to stay before running straight back out of the room, Reborn knows that something is wrong.

* * *

><p>Storm decided that he could get in one more visit to Chibi and be back before Dinner. But when he arrives in the Alternate Dimension, it's to find Chibi shouting and straining against his chains<p>

"Is that you again?" says Chibi, panting slightly as he caught his breath from shouting. "You've got to help me! They want to kill the Arcobaleno. I've got to get out there and save them!"

He sounded like the Juudaime he knew. Determined to protect everyone around him.

"There's no way for you to fight back." Storm says, trying to console the child.

"No, I know I can do something! That Fire, I can use that! Please, you've got to let me do something!" he pleads. Storm didn't want to flick his lighter on, he didn't want to see the expression on Chibi's face.

"You shouldn't know about Flames yet." Storm says, "The Arcobaleno haven't taught you anything." According to reports that was.

But Chibi wouldn't give up. And Storm couldn't really say no to any form of his Boss. So eventually, Storm gave up.

"You don't have an outlet for your Flames, so you can't take full control over them. But the key is Resolve. If you are Deathperate enough, resolved enough to die for the cause, to save the Arcobaleno with your Dying Will, then you might be able to utilise the most basic form of Flames." Storm says after finally flicking his lighter on. He needed to look into Chibi's eyes and check that the boy was really resolved enough to do this.

"Dying… Will? Reborn goes on about that. Do it with your Dying Will, right?" Storm nods, seems that Dying Will was important to Reborn of any world. Chibi looks down and really thinks about what's going on. He looks back up and Storm swears that Chibi's eyes almost go Orange. Nah, surely that was just his lighter flame reflecting.

"I can do it." He announces.

Storm smiles and ruffles Chibi's hair. "That's the way. Family comes first right."

The door rattles and the pair look towards it. At the same time Storm's watch beeps, telling him that he's about to get pulled back. But just as he's leaving, he hears the door being opened. Chibi starts to shout something, but gets cut off as a man smacks his neck and forces the boy unconscious…

* * *

><p>…Something cold and sharp was laid against his neck at the same time that a loud bong of a bell resounded, so Tsunayoshi snapped his eyes open in shock. However when he did open his eyes, he found he was face to face with a phantom white mask that was covered in blood. The sight had shocked the boy into screaming the loudest he had ever screamed before. Even an annoyed, coffee-less Reborn wasn't that scary.<p>

He gasps, catching his breath around the tears that were falling. That was _scary, _even worse than Halloween!

The man in the mask infront of him, the one who was the leader, laughs at Tsunayoshi, before replacing the knife back on the boy's throat. "So brat, this is your last chance. Tell us what we want to know or else you'll be joining the fake Arco Iris in Hell."

_I am not going to let him kill the Arcobaleno. They are not going to disappear from my life!_

"No. I'm not going to tell you anything. The Arcobaleno are super super strong. Meanies like you won't be able to beat them!" He shouts in reply, glaring at the man infront of him. That mask still scared him though. Was that real blood? Human blood?

The man gets angry and violently grabs Tsunayoshi's throat, squeezing tightly. "I don't think you know who you're talking to. We are the real deal! Those fakers just get their name through fear and hype. They do not deserve their title!"

_No one worked harder than the Arcobaleno. I don't believe him. He's just jealous. I won't let him kill them!_

"They are supposed to be the Strongest in the Italian Mafia, so if we kill them, then we'll prove that we are people who should be taken seriously. Those Italians have forgotten the reason behind the Mafia. We're going to bring them back in line!" The man snarls in his face. Tsunayoshi struggles against the man's hand at his throat. There was a pressure point to hit around here somewhere. If only his vision stopped swimming he'd be able to see.

_Deathperation. I might die here today. The Arcobaleno have done so much for me. I've got to do something in return!_

"What happened to stealing for a better life? What happened being Brothers stronger than Blood? Those Italians are so high and mighty that they commit crimes just for the fun of it. Organised crime became organised to benefit everyone involved for the greater good. Organised crime is a way to fight the unfairness of class systems, the unfairness of the rich poor divide. Yet these Italian Bosses are some of the richest men in the world. It's just not FAIR!"

_Whatever his reasons, his problem isn't with the Arcobaleno! They have nothing to do with how Bosses run their Families. Don't talk about fairness when you yourself are being unfair!_

Tsunayoshi could feel it, feel something stirring inside of him, boiling his blood. But that was it, it was just a feeling. Nothing changed like in those pictures he'd started to see recently. His forehead was hot but not burning. He still feared dying. It meant he'd never see the Arcobaleno again. He didn't want to die.

Reborn watched on in silence. The Chibi was just as easy to read as his Dame-Student was. It was impressive how close to using a Dying Will Flame the boy was though. The way the boy was fighting back was impressive too. Obviously the Arcobaleno in this world were teaching the brat to defend himself.

He looks at the Leon-gagged man at his feet. "You told him how to get that far, right?" Storm nods. Reborn had followed Storm out of the dining room and caught him coming here. Although Reborn was interested to see what had the Storm Guardian so worried. This was what he had found.

There is an adult's gasp of pain from the room, so the pair turn their attention back to it.

"What did you do to my hand, idiot?" Shouts the masked man, his limp hand being held by the other.

Tsunayoshi doesn't reply, too busy trying to get his breath back. He'd finally found that pressure point.

"I… won't let you… kill my family." He pants out, staring up determinedly. He looks around trying to find a weapon he could defend himself with. He runs over to where a woman in pigtails was typing away on a computer and grabs one of the many keyboards there, pulling it out of its socket. He throws that at the masked man who was advancing towards him. The man bats it away, growling low in his throat.

So instead Tsunayoshi ducks under the woman's reaching hands and grabs a mouse. He twirls the mouse on it's wire, before smacking it into the man's knuckles. He hisses and backs up a step. Tsunayoshi keeps on spinning the mouse, and accidentally whacks the woman in the temple with it. She falls to the ground in a daze.

The Leader of the Arco Iris grabs the mouse in mid swing and draws it out of Tsunayoshi's grasp. Backhanding the boy sends Tsunayoshi flying back to the centre of the room. Tsunayoshi rolls to a stop, hissing at the cuts the rubble covered floor had inflicted. He shouts out in pain as the man steps on him, once more lowering the knife to his throat.

"Ya know what? I don't care anymore. You can die."

"I won't die." Gasps Tsunayoshi, his breath knocked out by the force of the foot on his stomach. "Not until I know the Arcobaleno are safe."

And those were the only words Reborn needed to hear. Leaning around the corner, he aims and shoots a bright shining bullet. It hits Chibi right in the forehead, his aim perfect as always.

Tsunayoshi gasps, finally feeling the boiling fire inside him spill over. It hurt, it hurt so badly.

_I'm going to die. I'm going to disappear too. What a waste. Maybe if I had the will of the dying I could have stopped this meanie and saved the Arcobaleno. Maybe I could have been a superhero for once. I should have defeated him… with a Dying Will. _

"**REEEBOOOOORRN**!"

Before the leader can process what was happening, his foot had gone numb and a punch was being delivered to the back of the opposite leg. He falls to the ground where he snaps out of his shock. But the brat is upon him, coming in with moves that looked like a Chinese martial art.

"Those are Fon's moves." Storm comments, watching the fight. Oh how he wished to jump in there and blow that *ahem* to kingdom come! But Reborn hadn't moved, so he didn't either.

"Hm, with some of Lussuria's Muay Thai moves mixed in," Reborn agrees, eyes watching every move the boy made. "And those are Colonnello's and Lal's." That street style belonged to them. He'd fought Colonnello often enough to know that.

"But whose is that one?" asks Gokudera. Chibi's punches were suddenly aimed at very weird places.

Reborn makes a sound that might be called a snort in a lesser (and less scary) man. "Che, that's Verde's style when he's forced into it. What Chibi most likely doesn't know is that Verde would have a syringe in his hand at that point. Those are all points where the veins are easily accessible."

They watch as Chibi changes styles once again- just how many did he know at this young age?- grabbing the mouse and swinging it in a different manner than before. "Gak! That's the Vindice's chain style. He can't copy that without Flames though." Fighting the Vindice at the Arcobaleno Trials had been tough, Storm had to admit.

Reborn suddenly straightens up, smirks and lowers his fedora- he still wore one even in this slightly less miniature state. And let it be known that a 12 year old Reborn was just as formidable as the adult or 2 year old versions were.

"We need to leave." He could hear the sounds of this world's Arcobaleno coming down the stairs. He grabs a hold of Storm, presses a button on his watch and the pair disintegrate just in time.

* * *

><p><em>The Arcobaleno follow Reborn, going down one last set of steps and into a large cavern. But what they find there is a shock. For there is Tsunayoshi, fighting against who they assume to be the leader with a… with a…<em>

_Tiny Dying Will Flame on his forehead._

_Reborn turns to the others with harsh eyes. "Who taught him that?" he asks in exasperation. Someone just __had__ to get their first. But the looks the others give him back makes him rethink his previous judgement. If they hadn't and he hadn't, then…_

_Who had?_

Tsunayoshi now had a stick in his hands, holding it like a sword out infront of him. He didn't know where these images in his head came from, but the moves they were showing him seemed to be working.

This went this way, drop the sword, catch it with the other hand, sweep here, water shoots up… ok then, maybe no water, but the sword still smacks straight into the enemy's gut causing him to double over. Step backwards, jab quickly, something about sharks and pecking swallows but he can't remember it enough clearly, keep on jabbing even if his arm hurts, jump backwards, drop the sword, kick the sword, jump on the man.

"I WILL EXTREMELY SAVE THE ARCOBALENO WITH MY DYING WILL!"

A punch like this under the man's jaw, a right hook here, lift the hands to block. Tsunayoshi had no clue where this was coming from, his body just moved on its own despite the pain. He couldn't clearly see the faces of any of the men in these images in his head, but his body just followed the movements anyway. It seemed to know what it was doing.

But sadly he was still just a child, and a very light weight one at that. So it was easy for the man to grab his collar and fling him off. Tsunayoshi was sure that he was going to crash into the wall. But he doesn't. Instead the smell of blood and leather surrounds him as he crashes against a firm chest. The Fire in his body goes out after he recognises the smell. It was Skull's scent, meaning he hadn't been killed. The Arcobaleno were alright.

Now that he was safe, Tsunayoshi couldn't find the energy within him to stay awake anymore. His body hurt, and not just from the wounds caused by their fight. Whatever that Fire had been, it had really put a strain on him. He smiles as Reborn's face enters his vision. But his eyes must be playing tricks on him since Reborn looks worried.

"Ciaosu." Tsunayoshi whispers. He liked using that greeting, it sounded like Reborn's Chaos, but also sounded a bit like the greeting his Japanese friends in Mafia Row Central gave him.

"You really did cause Chaos," Reborn says, finally smirking.

Tsunayoshi smiles and falls asleep with the words "Good Job" ringing in his ears.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm, only one more chapter left in this Arc. I hope you enjoy it!<strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 29****th**** November 2012**


	58. From You

Chapter 58:

From You.

**Right, warnings for a M rated chapter… possibly. Anyway the following is the awaited torture scene along with an important plot point. So if you don't want to read the gore but want to know what the important plot point is, then PM me and I'll tell you. Although to be honest it's not really _that_ bad. **

** And then next arc we'll be getting cuter again. Don't worry. **

**I want to thank you all for your wonderful suggestions of what 'Mich' would have done to the right hand man. As such, many of those ideas will feature here as well. If yours does, then thank you *bows*. There are too many for me to name individually.**

* * *

><p>The Arcobaleno all gather around Tsunayoshi, taking in every single scratch, cut and bruise the small boy had. Skull hugs him closer before stroking his hair.<p>

"You were so brave Tsunayoshi." He whispers. Tsunayoshi was certainly braver then he was, taking on an adult like that.

"And he kicked ass, kora!" Colonnello inserts, lightening up the mood slightly. The other Arcobaleno have to nod at that comment. They didn't think they had taught Tsunayoshi most of those moves. Around the house, the brunet was better at dodging and catching weapons than actually using them.

"In a very uncoordinated and rough display, leaving openings everywhere." Lal growls out. But even she had to admit that the brat had done a reasonably good job considering the limitations and odds weighed against him.

Viper put her video camera away somewhere safe, in a place where it wouldn't get crushed no matter what. She could get the Varia to pay for viewing rights. They'd want to see how close to being Varia Quality Tsunayoshi was. She didn't say much, remaining quiet per her usual style. Plus these broken ribs were digging into some very painful places at the moment.

Fon didn't say anything either, instead trying to focus the storm of rage inside. It went against discipline to show such emotions on the outside. Instead it was better to focus them internally and compress them into strength instead. He feared that something untoward may slip his lips should he open them. Instead, he settled himself into his usual breathing pattern.

Verde rolled his eyes as he watched Viper put the camera away. He wondered how much money Viper was going to charge for that clip, whether he could get an 'Arcobaleno-discount' or not, or whether it would be easier to pin the woman down, steal the camera and hack into it. Both seemed like a lot of bother, but he wanted to analyse those tapes and add the information gleaned to his collection.

Luce was busy running warm caring hands over her baby in Skull's grip, checking for any more major damage. She kept herself from looking at the torn and ripped clothes the boy had- she would mourn over her hard work once she knew Tsunayoshi was safe and sound at home. But it seemed that she had two things to contend with first. Luckily it seems that dealing with the first would also deal with the second.

"Bermuda." She says in a warning tone.

Bermuda had taken one look at Tsunayoshi before turning away and sending a glare to the two enemies in the room. He grit his teeth, not even noticing the blood dripping out the side of his mouth as he suppressed another cough. The chains scattered on the floor around him shook, creating tiny chinking sounds. By the barest of margins, his noble heritage was stopping him attacking the man infront of him. But that didn't stop the pulses of Night Flames swirling around his hands.

He takes a slow step forwards, ignoring the protests of his poisoned body. He short warps and before anyone, even the Arcobaleno, can register, the Leader of the fake Arco Iris is chained to a chair, the spiked tips of two chains piercing the man's hands and pinning then to the arm rests. The air is thick with the presence of the Vindice Boss. The Vindice's presence was suffocating on a good day, but with Bermuda like this… even the Arcobaleno had trouble moving.

"Bermuda!" Luce snaps once again. The man turns to her, sub-zero eyes boring into her own. She may be a nice enough woman, but he was not going to bow down to her like the rest did. "You're hurting Tsunayoshi."

Bermuda's eyes flick to where Tsunayoshi is grimacing in his sleep, one hand tightly clutching at Skull's leather jacket. The small child was currently in no state to combat Bermuda's Flame Pressure, especially after having drained his own untapped Flame via the Dying Will bullet. Quickly, Bermuda regains a tight control over his Flames, keeping the aura wrapped tightly around him like a cloak instead of filling the room.

Verde tuts and strides across the room, something glinting in his hand. Bermuda raises an eyebrow as he watches Verde inject something into their captive. Whilst not being able to see the raising of the eyebrow, Verde still guessed that Bermuda wouldn't understand what was going on.

"Hn, we have a system for this. This isn't our first torture you know." Verde drawls, pulling the needle out and pocketing it so the captive can't use it against them at a later date.

Bermuda hadn't thought of that before. Of course the Arcobaleno were famous, but they were generally renowned for being a group of famous individuals. They weren't well-known for their actions as a group in and of itself.

"Viper, you can drop the illusion now." Verde explains, standing up before flashing a light into the man's eyes, watching the pupil reaction to check he hadn't overdosed the guy by accident.

As soon as the captive was able to speak once again, the next sentence out of his mouth was so full of naughty words that Luce stamped over and slapped him around the face with the fan from her fight earlier, leaving scratches along his chin and nose. "There is a child in the room!" Even if the child was sleeping, it was no excuse for such dirty language.

"Hey you dirty lap dogs! Let Martillo go!"

The surprising shout comes from a woman in pigtails across the room, next to a stand of computers. A brief look at those computer screens showed that the Varia were still having fun terrorising the subordinates of this crazy group and that Primo and the V3 were still holding strong.

"There is a 88% chance that if you fought fairly, Maritillo would beat every single one of you!" she shouts. "I have computer simulations to prove it!" and she stomps her foot.

The Arcobaleno stare at her, what was she 8?

"If there is one thing you should know about the Arcobaleno it is that we defy expectations constantly!" Skull shouts, moving to a clear space just outside of the crowd and stomping his foot too. The actions jogs Tsunayoshi slightly, who squirms before settling back to sleep.

Crossing the room swiftly, Verde fearlessly strides past the woman and stared at the computer screens showing these 'simulations'. He lifts his glasses up before sneering at the woman with his usual "I'm better than you, stupid lowlife" look. "I do not know where you got this data from, but it's terribly out of date. You should know that data concerning human subjects needs constant updating. Unreliable data leads to unreliable forecasts. And you dare to call yourself better than me? Even a school child knows better than this."

"There he goes again," sighs Reborn, shaking his head at Verde.

"Yup, that's our Scientist for ya," agrees Colonnello, grinning broadly. To be honest the 'woman' was far too funny looking not to laugh at her. Her hair was up in two large pink pigtails. She had some sort of white and pink Lolita dress on with stockings and dolly shoes. It screamed geeky shut in. On an 8 year old, it would be cute, but on a woman similar to their age, not so.

Bermuda looks at the group, wondering what they were going on about. Verde acted like this with anyone who clearly had a lower IQ than him. So, when it's clear that the Arcobaleno are doing a countdown- either on their fingers or mouthing one- Bermuda turns to see what is about to happen.

"Ahh, I hate this bit. I never understand a word of it." Cowers Skull, moving to hide behind Fon as if the man could act as a sound barrier.

"But, look, he's having so much fun," coos Luce.

For there was Verde, looming over this weird woman, in the middle of a Physics battle. Physics: where science meets math. From a distance it looked like a civil conversation about the weather or some other meaningless topic. But if one actually listened it was a battle of snarky comments, disproving of points and scientific/mathematic one-ups, hotter than any political debate.

It was clear that Verde was wining this fight too. As the conversation went on and on, the woman got not only more vocal, but more active too. The number of posture changes increased, as did the number of times she stamped her foot. Verde's posture hardly ever changed, he just pushed his glasses back up every now and again.

"I think we can ignore the two geeks over there," Lal says, turning her back towards the pair. She was a woman of actions over words and therefore was uninterested in the battle the pair were having. She regrets her choice of words when Colonnello barely manages to save her from a flying scalpel.

"I heard that." Verde remarks before answering back to a point the pink haired girl had just made.

"If you think that will work, please continue trying, but I assure you the only result will be cutting your hand in two." Fon says, having kept his eyes on their captive Martillo.

Turning, the rest of the group look to see what had caused Fon's chiding comment. Somehow the captive had brought their foot up and was trying to kick the spiked tip of Bermuda's chains out of his hand.

"You've got another 10 seconds before it fully takes effect then he's all yours." Verde explains, looking over towards them. This veering of focus caused the girl to shout at him and grab his face to turn it back towards her. Almost instantaneously, she screamed out as electricity ran through her hands and around her body.

"10 seconds for what to take effect?" asks Bermuda since he could see no visible signs on their captive.

"A mixture of a few different agents to prolong conscious. We can't have them fainting before we found the information we need, nor do we want them to die of blood loss before then." Reborn explains, walking over to stand infront of the captive, noticing the look in his eyes. "You're the one who decided to mess with us. You pay the price." He smirks at the captive.

"Che, I can take anything you dogs throw at me." The man then spits in Reborn's face. Reborn steps backwards whilst wiping the spit off his face. "Oh, too chicken to even face me after an insult? Pathetic."

Reborn lowers his fedora until all that can be seen is an exasperated smile. He gives out a light chuckle.

"DUCK!"

Before Martillo can take another snide verbal shot at Reborn, he is suddenly assaulted by flying rubber ducks travelling at a hundred miles an hour. He makes a sound similar to a duck when the first of the bath toys slams into his throat. The next one lands in his open mouth as he gaped from the first attack. This second duck almost chokes him. A third one smacks into the chain's dagger, moving it around in the captive's hand, making Martillo spit out the second duck to grunt in pain.

"FOUR!"

A huge ornamental number 4 comes flying next, slamming into the seated man's stomach, forcing the breath out of his lungs.

"BALL!" The fifth and final object is a spherical paperweight slamming into the man's shoulder. A sharp crashing sound is heard as the shoulder bone breaks. The leader of the Arco Iris hisses and his eyes tear up, but there is no other sound from him.

"OI, those aren't Milly, Tilly and Billy from my bath collection are they?" shouts Skull in indignation. He and Tsunayoshi played with those rubber ducks in the bath! They weren't weapons!

"I'm more worried about who's room than number four came from." Adds in Lal.

"From the Study." Supplies Viper, watching from her position leaning against the wall. "When we started to get more missions and we needed more wall space for shelving, the numbers were taken down and put into storage. Same for the paperweight. I didn't realise they'd made in into The Bag though."

"And this is for getting my baby's clothes dirty!" Luce finally shouts before bringing the head of the golf club down in a hard swing. This attack in particular does make the man shout out. The involuntary jerk and instinctual movement of hands to cup the injured area only cause more pain for the victim since the spikes are still embedded in his hands.

Luce turns away from her carnage and smiles a smile that only she could after inflicting such damage. "Who's next?"

"I am." Says Lal, stepping forwards as she reassembles her riffle. "I want to get to him before Fon does this time." Fon bows his head and extends a hand to tell her to go ahead. The men were still cringing from Luce's last _low_ blow.

"That's a pretty gun you've got there, did sleeping around with those sleezy Italians get you the money for it?" Martillo asks.

There is a flash of blond and blue before Martillo's world rocks to the side and his jaw is on fire.

"Lal is not that type of woman!" Colonnello shouts, punching the guy's jaw once again. Colonnello of all people would know if Lal had been sleeping around. (He's not a stalker, honest.)

"I don't need you to defend me!" Lal shouts back, red dusting her cheeks slightly. She pushes Colonnello out of the way before kneeling down infront of the chair Martillo is sitting on. The captive takes a kick at her, but she grabs his foot and gives it a good hard twist, snapping the ankle. Before he can recover from the pain of that, Lal brings her riffle to rest against Martillo's other foot and shoots at point-blank range. The bullet shoots through his foot and into the floor, the gun's barrel leaving a circular burn mark on flesh.

Colonnello follows Lal's lead after adding in some more punches in revenge for the remarks against Lal, kneeling behind the chair instead. Three bullet shots ring in quick succession. The three bullets go through the chair and embed themselves in painful, but not necessarily life threatening, places inside the captives torso. Blood slowly turns the man's shirt red.

Bermuda moves another one of his chain tips to lift the captive's chin. Behind the bandages, cold eyes stare into the man's own as if they can read his soul.

"**Explain yourself." **Bermuda demands in his Boss voice.

"Oh, now ask the bloody questions." Gasps Martillo, still with a slight smile on his face. He wasn't about to let these 'Arcobaleno' rule over him. "You're all merely pawns to prove a point to your masters."

The atmosphere drops slightly in the room as everyone is offended by the remark. "You're all just little lapdogs of the Italian _so-called_ Mafia Bosses, pampered so that you don't turn on them." NO ONE was the Master of the Arcobaleno. The only Masters any of the Arcobaleno had were internal to the group. Luce was their leader since she had brought them all together and ruled with a fluffy sparkly fist. Reborn and Colonnello held power over Skull because the stuntman didn't have the courage to actually fight back. Lal held power over Colonnello because he was a love sick fool who allowed it.

But outside of their group, they were ruled by no one. Bosses came to them with requests, not orders. Ties were created through interest and mutual benefits.

"If I get rid of all of you, then the Italian Mafia won't have anyone to hide behind." Martillo explains with venom in his voice. "We are fed up with the Italians abusing their power and forgetting their roots."

"By 'we' I assume that you are talking about the Spanish Mafia." Reborn interjects "In that case your position as the Arco Iris is no different to ours. You cannot call us lapdogs without placing that term upon yourself as well." He smirks as the man glares at him.

"No, we are different. Instead of lapdogs we are the Demonios that keep the Spanish Mafia on the correct path. We make sure that the crimes committed are against the wealthy to improve the lives of the poor. That the Mafia works to help those in the slums out of poverty. We scoff at the monetary and class divides that society has lain upon us. By working together we can help each other. But you and those Gad Damned Italians are just out for yourselves, out for the money and the fame and the power over the rest of the world. You never help anyone but yourselves. You have forgotten your roots and that shall be your downfall."

Of all people, it was Viper who this affected the most. Not because it had any relevance of course, but because it sounded strangely familiar. It sounded vaguely like the trouble the Alternate Dimension Tsuna had spoken about. She blinks as Tsunayoshi is suddenly thrust into her hands.

Skull stomps over to where Martillo is still spouting nonsense and kicks the man's knee-cap. "You're just as bad, kidnapping and harming an innocent child. Tsunayoshi has nothing to do with the Mafia yet you chose to harm him anyway!" He keeps on kicking throughout his speech, venting his anger. "I know some of them are complete scumbags but not every Family allied with the Italian Mafia is like that! Haven't you even seen the efforts that Vongola Version Vigilante are putting in? We protect and do the best for the members of our Famiglie since we understand that you can't protect everyone at once! It's not possible!"

Bermuda looks away at that statement, wishing Skull knew how ironic that statement may become in the future. The members of the Vindice knew the real price for protecting the world.

"If you want to change the world then fine, but at least get your damn facts straight first!" Skull finishes his kicking barrage before smacking the man in the head with his helmet. He turns and walks away, still grumbling to himself before sitting down next to Viper. Luce and Fon gave Skull a small round of applause for his efforts and words.

Fon takes light steps forwards eyes glancing over the body infront of him. The man was truly pathetic, not having the strength to gain their attention through a means other than the kidnapping of a child. Children were pure and innocent creatures that deserved to be left alone. This man had defiled that, and Fon would never forgive him.

Fon came in close, with hands like attacking snakes or pecking swans. Touch after touch, pinch after pinch, Fon slowly made his way up the captive's body. The captive hisses at the first few, but as more and more points are touched the pain grows and eventually he shouts out. Fon was methodically attacking every sensitive pressure point. He had taught Tsunayoshi the ones to numb an enemy's nerves and prevent movement, but not these ones, not the specific points that cause excruciating pain. A pins and needles like numbness follows after the pain until the man feels like he's a hedgehog's scratching post.

This was the reason that Lal had wanted to go before Fon, since these attacks generally numbed the pain as nerves shut down.

* * *

><p>All around the abandoned church and the surrounding gardens, the sounds of the Arco Iris's leader's screams resound, amplified through Viper's illusions.<p>

For those Demonios in Bull Fighting Uniforms that followed the Arco Iris, it was a shock, they had never heard their leader like that before. He was the Diablo, the Devil, no one would ever get more than a fake sounding hiss out of him. But these Arcobaleno had managed to make him scream, and scream like a girl no less.

For those of Mafia Row, it was nothing but motivation.

"We can't let the Arcobaleno have all the fun!"

The Varia smirk, pleased with the sound.

"At least the Trash are doing something right."

"Ushishishi~ sounds like Mammon's having fun without the Prince."

"Vroii! Well if you lazy lot worked harder then we might be able to join in, you idiots!"

A few certain people who belonged in the past nodded their heads in appreciation.

"Nufufu, sounds to me like the Arcobaleno are getting their revenge."

"Punishment should be given to those who disturbed the peace."

"The Arcobaleno have got the right idea. It's shameful kidnapping a child. The bloke got what he deserved."

"Now G. really, you shouldn't be encouraging this type of behaviour."

"You know our G. though Giotto, he's always looking for a fight. But shouldn't you be more emotional? It was your great somethin' grandson they took."

* * *

><p>Reborn didn't say anything as he took Fon's place infront of the man who had dared to take something from him. Not talking unnerved the enemy more than any death threats could. The unknown was far more scary than the verbalised. Reborn places a hand on Martillo's neck, squeezing harshly enough to almost strangle. Reborn has seen the hand-shaped bruise on Tsunayoshi's neck.<p>

Martillo's eyes widen as he sees a bright yellow light coming from Reborn's hand and a warmth fill the veins in his neck. What was the hitman doing?

No Reborn was not healing the captive. Okay he was. But his healing isn't like a normal one. Martillo at first relaxes due to the warming heat of the Sun Flames involuntarily. But then the pain started. His nerves fizzed and screamed as they repaired themselves. The bones in his shoulder grinded and trapped nerves as they went about restoring themselves. His ankle was on fire as it healed the damage Lal had caused when she snapped it. The bullet wounds were pure agony as the flesh repaired around the intrusions, the burns heating up almost as much as when they were first inflicted. Every scratch itches and felt like someone was running a knife down his flesh.

It felt as if he was reliving every attack all over again.

Reborn gives one final harsh squeeze before letting go, leaving the man half healed. The man sends Reborn a death glare, promising something painful if he was released. Reborn just smirks back, the smirk of a playful devil. Raising one foot, he kicks the underside of the chair, causing it to fly backwards, onto its side and skid along the ground. Following, another foot places the chair so the captive was now facing the ceiling instead of a wall.

Martillo gets a good look under the fedora from this position and sees a possessive sadistic light gleam in the Hitman's eyes. It's downright scary. Even for a proclaimed Devil like him. Reborn reaches into his jacket pocket and brings out a thick metal box. Lifting the lid off, Reborn produces a something that makes Martillo laugh.

A piece of cake.

First the hitman had half healed him and now he was going to make Martillo eat cake? How crazy was this guy?

Some of the Arcobaleno, Skull in particular, turn green and all cover their mouths and noses to stop the chance of breathing in fumes. Viper pulls her robe over Tsunayoshi to protect him too. A slice of cake made by Bianchi was not something to take lightly.

Eyes locked with the man below him, Reborn continues to smirk as he slowly gets go of the cake and lets it drop onto Martillo's face. The man splutters and closes his mouth to stop himself from being choked by the cake. But instead he finds his eyes burn from the fumes. They blur as tears start to form to remove the foreign substance, but that just makes the burning even more painful. Taking a breath in through his nose also means inhaling the purple gas that was rising from this dessert. Feeling like they are on fire, Martillo's lungs scald with every breath he takes in. He coughs up blood as the poisoned cake starts to disintegrate and destroy the lungs.

Reborn looks to the side, eyes sparkling as he sneered at Bermuda. Anyone could tell that Bermuda must have been poisoned earlier on, so it was only fitting that the boss received what his subordinates dished out.

Reborn pulls out a bottle of water and upends it on Martillo's face. He didn't want the fun to end already. Another syringe flies towards the hitman, but Reborn easily plucks it out of the air.

"My latest formula to counteract the poison Bianchi creates. I have to keep on changing it since she's still developing her poisons." Verde explains, walking over to where the others were.

The Arcobaleno take a look over to the computer terminals to find the strange woman tied up in computer leads, her pigtails chopped off and in some sort of chemically induced coma. Luce bounces over and takes out her coloured markers from earlier before drawing all over this woman's face too.

After Reborn administers the antidote, he sits down and grabs one of the captive's hands, before slowly starting to hammer in splinters underneath the man's nails. These hands were the ones use to take Tsunayoshi away from them, away from **him.** These hands had hurt Tsunayoshi. "Well Verde, is there anything you'd like to do before I turn this man into a statue?" He'd place that man somewhere in Spain where everyone could see him and know not to mess with the Arcobaleno ever again. He'd become an example.

"No. Go ahead. He can just donate his body to science after he dies." Verde says, waving a nonchalant hand in the air.

Martillo continues to grunt and scream as more and more splinters are inserted.

Reborn stops and takes out two different vials, shaking them up. Slowly, eyes locked with Martillo's the entire time, he removes the corks and goes to pour one into the other…

"**STOP!"**

Before Reborn knows it, Tsunayoshi is standing infront of him, between him and his prey, arms spread out defensively. Viper is only a few steps away, arms outstretched as she chased the boy.

Tear studded eyes move from one Arcobaleno to another. "Isn't anyone going to stop him?" Tsunayoshi asks. "What happened to the promise you all made me?!"

None of the Arcobaleno can look Tsunayoshi in the eyes.

None except one.

"I need to."

Those were the only words Reborn said.

_"J-just promise me…That you'll only kill people who deserve it. The only people to disappear are people who you have to. Okay? I-I understand that you kill to keep me and the others safe. I d-don't like it, not at all. But you have to, right?"_

Tsunayoshi freezes up before violently shaking his head. "No you don't. You don't need to kill someone because they took me. I'm still here, I didn't disappear, I didn't DIE! There is no need to." Tsunayoshi pleads.

He wasn't worth killing someone over.

"But you are." Says Reborn, doing that weird mind reading thing he did. Tsunayoshi couldn't believe those words had just left Reborn's lips. Reborn cared about him that much?

"You are worth it, kora." Colonnello adds in.

"The Great Skull-sama would even swap Heaven and Hell for you!"

"I'm not even going to charge a fee for this."

"Just this once, for you brat."

"Aww, Lal that was sweet."

"Shut up idiot!"

"Would I leave my family for someone who wasn't worth it?"

"For you I'd change the laws of Science."

"Wow, can Verde really do that?" asks Skull. Everyone else just ignores him.

"Family first Tsunayoshi. That's the way of things."

"Would you feel better if we said it was to protect everyone in Mafia Row too?"

Tsunayoshi turns to look at Fon, a man who hated killing almost as much as Tsunayoshi did. "He was going to kill you before hurting the Italian Mafia. That's what he said to me." Tsunayoshi mumbles.

"He had never even tried to negotiate with the Italians. He went straight to violence." Luce explains.

"But-But, But killing is wrong!" Tsunayoshi protests. It was wrong, people shouldn't need to disappear. But it was, it was _normal_ here in the mafia. N-naughty p-people needed t-telling off… right? "You promised." He mumbles, tears filling his eyes.

"Fine." Viper huffs before kneeling down next to the man. She hisses as she does so, her ribs protesting against the movement. As she moves her hands to be on the captive's temples, he attempts to bite her, so she slaps him. The air around Viper glows, her hands especially. Within seconds of the contact, Martello let's out the loudest shriek he's done yet.

"Viper NO!" Tsunayoshi runs around and pulls at her hands.

"Stop it." She hisses, trying to focus on her illusion instead. But Tsunayoshi only pulls harder in fear-filled determination. "I'm following your damn wishes so let me be!" Tsunayoshi stops, he had never heard Viper use that tone on him before now.

"W-what are you doing?" Tsunayoshi asks, tears finally falling down his cheeks in a combination of shock from Viper's shout and from being worried that Viper was about to kill someone infront of him.

"I'm going to make him so scared of the Arcobaleno that he won't ever want to come and kill us or the Italian Mafia ever again. If he tries peaceful negotiations then he'll be fine. But if he ever raises a hand unjustly towards one of us, he'll remember these images and stop immediately." She explains in a breathless whisper.

Lal walks over and picks the stunned Tsunayoshi up. "C'mon brat, let's go home." She says.

Bermuda, not knowing the state of the rest of the abandoned church- it was highly possible a few deaths had occurred- decided that a portal would be the best, and quickest, way home. He was going to regret it later since his Flames were the only thing keeping him standing at the moment, but it would be worth it. Everyone but Reborn and Viper enter and leave for home.

Viper stays working on her illusion. She too was going to end up paying big time for this, two Flame drains in one day was not a good thing, but she continued on regardless. She had to make this illusion perfect or else she would have failed Tsunayoshi. She wouldn't get his tear filled gaze out of her head.

Reborn stands there and stares at the vials in his hands. He could do it. He could pour these two vials all over the scumbag that had started this whole mess, turn him into a statue. Tsunayoshi would never know. Viper could be paid into silence and it wasn't like Tsunayoshi would ever see this man again. In three seconds it could all be over. So easily. He could and he **should**. But…

Reborn clicks his tongue in anger and looks away for the pathetic scrap of a man on the floor.

He could… and he should… but he won't.

* * *

><p><strong>There we go! Not as gory as some of you were suspecting, but this is supposed to be a cute fic and I don't want to change styles totally. I'm not sure if the fic will ever get this dark again- or at least include another torture scene. Fights scenes are a given though, can't avoid those. But they'll be more… normal. <strong>

**Anyway, has anyone guessed what's happening next arc? I've placed some clues in there for you. Not in this chapter particularly, but there have been two chapters with clues in it. **

**And it's time for our sentence, which for once perfectly summarises what happened in this arc:**

_When something important has gone missing, you ask everyone, look everywhere and do all you can to find it again and deal with whoever had dared to steal it from you._

**I hope you enjoyed this change of pace. If you didn't, let me know, okay.**

**See you all next chapter!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 02 December 2012.**


	59. Omake E- Guard Dog

Chapter 59:

Omake E- Guard Dog.

**It's the 59****th**** chapter- my darling Gokudera's number!**

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, Tsunayoshi-sama has gone missing!" Hayato shouts, waving his hands for emphasis. None of the others would believe him. Tsunayoshi lived with the Arcobaleno for heaven's sake, there was no way they wouldn't know where Tsunayoshi was.<p>

The others just assumed that Hayato was mad that Tsunayoshi had dropped their play-date in favour of doing something with the Arcobaleno. It happened all the time so the boy should be used to it.

"Maa maa, one of the Arcobaleno probably took him out for the day and he forgot to tell you." Suggests Takeshi, practicing his baseball swings as he did so. Hayato was just overreacting after all.

"Tsunayoshi-san is always going cool places. Last week he was in Paris. Haru wants to go to Paris too, desu!" Lots of lovely clothes were made in Paris. One day she'd own a store there and everyone would be lining out of the door to wear something she had made.

"He's missing! Not just gone somewhere! The Arcobaleno didn't know where he was either. He was supposed to be with the Varia." Hayato shouts, stamping his foot. How could these idiots not see the situation here?

"But he's friends with the Varia to the extreme!" Ryohei roars, sitting down on the floor. Tsunayoshi was really extreme to be friends with those people. His dad always told him to stay away from the Varia.

"You're not getting it. Supposed to means that he wasn't actually there. Miss Mammon came home from a mission with them but she didn't have Tsunayoshi-sama with her!" He needed to make them see the truth. Tsunayoshi-sama could be in danger.

"How do you know that?" asks Kyoko, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Because I was there. The Arcobaleno thought I was asleep, but they woke me up with their talking." Hayato explains. Maybe now they'd see the truth. But none of them say anything. "Look, where do you think all of the adults have gone?"

Hmm, that was true. All of their parents had told them that they were going to a meeting and had left them together to look after each other.

"They are having a meeting to go and find Tsunayoshi-sama!" he declares when no one answers him.

"Hahi? That would explain why Okaa-san left the shop with her 'do-not-touch' coat on. I'm sure that one has some dangerous things in it, desu." Haru gasps, finally taking Hayato seriously.

"Pops took down his sword too." Takeshi mumbles. His dad hadn't touched that sword since his mother had died.

"See!" Hayato shouts in relief. "We've got to go and save Tsunayoshi-sama!" The others all agree, letting out a huge cheer.

Within a few moments, they collected any items they thought might be useful before running towards the docks. Of course they hadn't thought any of this through, but children's logic never worked that way. At least they were trying, bless them.

However when they reach the docks, they come face to face with the scary Kyoya.

"Hn, what are you Herbivores doing here?" he asks, shifting his grip on his tonfas. It looked like these people needed some discipline.

"We're going to save Tsunayoshi-sama!" Hayato announces. "Don't try and stop us."

Kyoya liked the sound of that: a challenge. "You have been forbidden to leave the island. Any attempt to do so will be met with discipline for breaking the peace." Order needed to be maintained. Chaos could not be allowed to rule.

"I said don't try to stop us. Don't you want to find Tsunayoshi-sama too?" Hayato takes a threatening step forwards, hands slowly reaching for his dynamite incase the Gate-Keeper decided to attack.

"Take one more step and I'll bite you to death." Those who caused chaos deserved to be bitten.

"Please listen to Kyo-san." Tetsuya pleads, knowing of the _real_ consequences should the others not back down. A bite was not the worst thing that may happen to them.

Hayato, of course, takes one very clear step forwards. Kyoya smirks before crouching down slightly and propelling himself forwards, towards the rule breaker.

Hayato readies his dynamites- he had been practicing really hard ever since Tsunayoshi-sama had saved him from them.

But before the pair can make contact, they are picked up by two tentacles.

"Oi! Put me down! I need to save Tsunayoshi-sama!" Hayato growls, banging his fists against the appendage holding him in the air. Kyoya, too, is not pleased and whacks at the tentacle with his tonfas.

Tetsuya sighs, knowing that this would be the outcome. "Lady Luce said that she left them behind to look after you and stop anyone else from leaving the island." He explains.

"I don't care. Put me down now octopus before I turn you into takoyaki!" The sliver head threatens.

"Haha, I think Pops has some batter around the place somewhere." Takeshi adds. Hmm, now he was getting hungry.

Ookado bumps Takeshi on the head for such a mean joke before pointing in a specific direction. When the children don't comply and try to run around the octopus, he simply grabs them all with his tentacles before moving onwards.

* * *

><p>"Haha, you too?" asks Shoichi as the small group are deposited into the Giglio Nero living room.<p>

Kyoko nods her head. "Us too?" she asks.

Shoichi looks down nervously. "Yeah… um, as soon as we heard that Tsunayoshi had been… taken… we tried to go and rescue him ourselves. But the Arcobaleno's pets caught us and brought us here. It's the same story for the others."

The others included Byakuran and his Family, Longchamp and his Family, Dino- since even though he knew, no one wanted him on the battle field-, Enma and his brothers and sisters, Basil, Spanner, Nozaru and Tozaru. Lambo was still at the Bovino house along with the majority of the scientists, I-pin was being looked after at her own house and Mukuro, Chrome, Ken and Chikusa were still behind bars in the Estreneo House. Lancia had been told before hand that he wasn't allowed to be involved, therefore deciding to stay and look after Fuuta in their house instead. Bianchi too had decided to stay at home and cook something for Reborn for when he came back triumphant.

All around the room are the Arcobaleno's pets. Falco was sat atop a bookcase so he could see everything, Leon was playing with Bluebell, keeping her quiet, Lichi was hanging from the lightshade on the ceiling. Keiman was laying on the rug, one eye open to keep an eye on the people around him, Fantasma was curled up as close to the radiator as possible, asleep whilst keeping warm. Ookado went back outside to keep an eye for anyone who tried to escape.

Hayato sat there fuming for a little while. Why wasn't he allowed to go and save Tsunayoshi-sama? He couldn't believe that everyone else had just gone and started playing with the toys in the room. Sure they all looked worried and weren't as loud as usual, but still!

Well, if no one else was going to save Tsunayoshi-sama it was up to him.

He waits a while until the animals are no longer wary- a trick he'd learnt that works on maids and butlers- before making a mad dash for the door. He is stopped by sharp teeth clamping around his ankle. He looks down to find it's the caiman.

"Let go of me!" he protests, shaking his foot to try and get the caiman off.

The animal moves it's face, pulling Hayato's ankle with it, causing the boy to trip and smack face first into the floor. He's then dragged over the floor and dropped on the carpet at the other side of the room.

"Ah-hmm-hmm, you shouldn't attempt to escape Haya-chan." Smirks Byakuran.

"Yes. The animals attack back, don't they Bubu?" Finishes Daisy, playing with the bunny in his grip. "After all Byakuran got scratched by the bird when he tried." Byakuran pouts, but there was no denying the scratch marks on his face.

"Che, well you're all just too lazy." Hayato chides. As soon as the caiman lets go, Hayato scrambles back up and runs for the door again, some of the others cheering him on. Falco lands on Ryohei's head when the boxing child attempts to run for the door too. Leon transforms as Kyoya runs past, aiming for a window- he was not being trapped here with these noisy herbivores- encasing the child's foot and sticking it like cement to the floor.

Keiman chases Hayato once again. This time he bites Hayato's wrist, still dragging him to the floor. To his credit, Hayato attempts to fling the animal off whilst trying to regain his footing. But for such a small animal, it was really strong. There is a flash of cream and suddenly Hayato's arms are pinned to his sides by a length of rope. Verbally hissing, Hayato glares at whoever had done that, to find Fon's monkey tying a knot in the rope. Hayato finds he can't move anywhere now, he's just stuck here laying on the floor.

"Let me go!" Hayato shouts in indignation. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me GOOO!" Hayato practically throws a tantrum there and then, legs kicking at anything in range. Keiman quickly scuttled backwards to avoid being kicked.

"Haha, they got you good Hayato." Laughs Takeshi, poking at the rope. How they had missed the rope sitting in the corner, none of them knew.

"Don't laugh at me. Get me out of here!" Hayato demands, glaring at Takeshi.

"Um, I don't think so. It's clear they won't let us leave." Takeshi replies.

"We should leave it to the adults, desu." Haru adds from her position on the sofa playing with some building blocks.

Idiots! Total and utter idiots! They obviously didn't care for Tsunayoshi-sama at all.

So after an even longer excruciating wait that involved two conversations about baseball, one about boxing, one about clothes and thankfully an actual decent conversation with Shoichi and Spanner, Hayato decided to try again. Even being tied up wasn't going to stop him!

He wiggles with all his might, looking more like a frantic worm than anything, using only his feet to push him forwards and towards the door. Keiman growls in annoyance before sitting on Hayato. The boy makes a large 'oof' sound as the air is pushed out of his lungs. Fast, strong and heavy, what didn't this caiman have going for it? Keiman reached forwards and places his jaws around Hayatos left shoulder, causing the boy to freeze. He's seen some of his father's men shot there and it wasn't pretty. Hayato didn't dare to move.

Fantasma rolls his eyes over the chaos before falling back asleep. It needn't be involved, the others had it covered.

* * *

><p>When Aria and Luce open the doors to the living room, they smile at the sight. All of the children are asleep, generally on each other.<p>

All except one.

Hayato glares at them from his position still on the floor.

Luce laughs at the sight, it was adorable and funny, especially since a glare from a boy his age wasn't really a glare at all. She quickly snaps a photo to show Bianchi and Tsunayoshi later.

It takes a few seconds for the small boy to realises what Luce being here actually meant.

"You found Tsunayoshi-sama?" he asks excitedly. Luce wouldn't be smiling if she didn't.

"Yes, we did. You can see him tomorrow. You should be asleep like the others." Luce chides, wagging a finger in a motherly way.

Hayato clicks his tongue and looks away. "Che, you try sleeping with a caiman sat on you."

Luce giggles slightly before giving a small smirk. "Well, Tsunayoshi seems to be able to whenever he sleeps in Verde's room."

Hayato's eyes widen. "If Tsunayoshi-sama can then I can too!" he reckons, before laying his head on the floor and shutting his eyes, just like Luce had expected.

Now all Luce had to do was wait for the parents to pick their children back up before she could return to helping the others look after her own son.

* * *

><p><strong>In case any of you were wondering where the Animal Partners, except for Cosmo, were, this is where I left them, looking after the children. <strong>

**I'll be writing one more chapter for this Arc before moving onto the next one. **

**See you then!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Publishes 06 December 2012**


	60. And Us

Chapter 60:

And Us.

**Don't worry, your eyes are not deceiving you. Today is indeed not Sunday, but I had a lot of work to get done on Sunday for Monday, like a presentation, a report and an essay. And as we all know, school, or in my case University, comes first. **

**People wanted Varia and 1st gen to appear more… I provide… *bows in a presenting manner***

**This would have been last chapter, but since I'm a major Gokudera fangirl I just had to give him the 59****th**** chapter.**

* * *

><p>A blond haired child skips down a corridor, the world's largest grin on his face, as happy as happy can be. And why was this child so happy? There was red blood <span>everywhere<span>. That was the good thing about the Varia, they knew how to throw a great party. So far Belphegor hadn't regretted joining the Varia when he was bored one day. Nope, not at all. Because there was so much blood.

He runs his fingers along the wall as he skips along, covering them in the best colour around. He stops to look at them, remembering the first time his fingers had been this red. The day he had killed his brother. Yes, that was a good day, a day to remember.

"Ushishishi~ Ushishishishishi~ Shishi" He laughs, staring at his fingers.

As the subordinates of the Fake Arco Iris round the corner, all they see is a small 7 year old child laughing manically as if they have just been given the key to a candy vault, but just… a hell of a lot creepier than that. They look at each other, wondering why a child would be here, maybe trying to save his friend perhaps? Their bait was only a small child too after all. But their orders had been to kill anyone who came with the Arcobaleno.

So they run down the corridor shouting out insults in Spanish. This boy sided with the Arcobaleno, with the Italians, and didn't deserve to live. He was already tainted and unsaveable. So they'd kill him now.

Belphegor hears the noise and turns to look at the men coming his way. His grin sharpens.

"Ushishi~. Now now, there is room for all of you to bow before the Prince. Please form an orderly line and I'll allow all of you to lick my shoe. There is no need to rush."

As a pile of dismembered body parts roll to his feet, Belphegor nods in appreciation. "That's right, bow before Prince the Ripper." He looks up, the wires attached to his knives now coated in blood and visible. The stupid peasants had run straight into his trap- although he was a genius so you could expect nothing less. He had placed his wires all along the corridor in a criss-cross pattern, and in their haste the men had run straight into them. The wires were sharp enough to cut through bone. And that was how a pile of dismembered body parts came to bow before the Prince.

However at the end of the hall are still a few men who dared to remain alive. "Ka-ching," Belphegor hisses, annoyed.

But before he can do anything about it, they are knocked to the ground by a flying knee before being beaten to death.

"Ohohoho~ Don't these uniforms make these men even more delectable." Lussuria asks over his shoulder as he holds one struggling man in the air.

"Ka-ching, those were the Prince's prey, birdy." Pouts Belphegor.

"Oh well, they're mine now." Claims Lussuria, throwing a wink at Belphegor over his shoulder before giving the man in his grip another knee to the stomach.

Belphegor shivers from the wink. Fine, let the birdy have them. So instead, Belphegor goes and collects his knives and wires. When he's finished he walks over to where Lussuria is before walking straight on past. Lussuria just happened to be in the way of the next corridor.

"Mou, Bel-chan, wait for me. I don't want you getting lost." Lussuria shouts, giving one last hug to the dead body of a particularly _fine_ man before running to catch up. When Lussuria goes to take Belphegor's hand like a mother to a child, he is instead met with a silver knife and a brand new cut on his hand. That had better not scar! Getting the message, he pouts before pulling out a flower printed plaster and covering the cut.

As much a Belphegor would like to kill Lussuria for all of his weird habits, sadly he couldn't. Lussuria did the cooking after all- none of the peasants' food was worthy of the Prince. And Lussuria looked after him that time he had a cold, and there were probably a few other reasons that alluded him at the moment too.

So they continue to walk down the corridors, taking out any men who come their way. Luckily the men were well trained and a decent fight; most of the time it wasn't over unbearably quick. But still, none of them were Varia Quality.

Suddenly there is the sound of crashing glass and the lights around the pair go out. The Varia pair crouch down, wary of an attack. They sneak around the next corner, listening for any sound of footsteps or an attacker. They do hear something, something very familiar.

The crackle of electricity.

"Levi Volta!"

The air glows blue as the electricity is discharged and shoots straight towards a small crowd of enemies. They try to dodge and to run but the electricity branches out like lightning. There is no way to escape. Shouts fill the air as lights and shadows bounce along the walls. The shadows show a pretty picture, Belphegor admits. But then the light dies out and the world returns to blackened silence.

"Che, pathetic weaklings." Levi growls before turning and walking away.

"Heeey~ Levi! That was so pretty." Sings Lussuria as Levi walks past. Hearing the voice, Levi grabs one of his umbrella's and creates a small spark, just enough to see where he was going and what was in front of him.

Levi grunts a greeting to the pair before striding down the corridor. The other two follow since there is nothing better to do. Belphegor half walks half skips backwards, taking out any who dare approach them like cowards from behind. In the meantime, white and blue electricity flashes out in front, creating patterns in the air before diving into its opponent. Those who have fallen are soon kicked out of the way or stepped on.

As they keep on walking, soon another colour fills the air other than blue and white and that is orange and red. Bars of orange shoot across their vision, illuminating the crossroads that they are about to come to. Shouts of defiance are silenced as soon as the orange lights up the corridor; there is no time to scream, no time to shout, no time to warn anyone else. Flaming shot after shot is fired, warming the freezing underground air, until every last enemy coming from that direction is obliterated. No questions asked.

After a quick peek to check they weren't about to become roasted, the trio walk fearlessly around the corner. Xanxus only sees movement out of the corner of his eye and reflectively shoots, but the Varia members are trained enough to jump out of the way. They finish walking down the corridor and come into what seemed to be some sort of gathering room. Trust Boss to find the enemy jackpot.

Even the lights down this end are out, Levi having destroyed the circuits totally when calling the electricity to him. But for Xanxus and Squalo, the best and most trained members of the Varia, that doesn't matter. As more enemies fall under the raw power of Xanxus and his X-Guns, light flickers across the room.

Squalo's blade was reflecting the light from Xanxus's shots, looking like a dancing flame or a will-o'-whisp. The flame shimmered all around the room, suddenly here, suddenly there, never in the same place twice.

It would have been a sight to behold… if Squalo wasn't shouting obscenities that even sailors twice his age would be proud of. Xanxus of course didn't say anything, this trash wasn't even worth his time. He wouldn't even be here at all if it he didn't need to teach these trashes of trash a lesson: To never take something Xanxus was interested in.

The trio knew better then to involve themselves in a fight the pair were in. It usually resulted in becoming a target yourself. Plus, Lussuria was far too busy patching Belphegor and Levi up. Squalo was one of the few people, possibly the only one, who could fight in the same area as Xanxus and not be burnt along with everyone else. It was a testament to how long the two had been together, and possibly a tiny show of respect on Xanxus's part. Maybe. Or maybe he was just in a good mood for once.

Finally the room returns to black, and for once silence as Squalo caught his breath.

"Boosssuu~ Hurry up, or we'll leave you behind!" Lussuria teases, standing in the light coming from a stairwell. Xanxus grunts and pushes Squalo down the stairs before him, which causes Squalo to shout and wave his sword at his Boss. Squalo's reward is another kick to force him down the stairs.

"Shishi~ How is it that Boss is the only one uninjured?" Belphegor asks, as they reach the very bottom. Everyone accept Xanxus had cuts and bruises on them.

Squalo flicks his hair over his shoulder in a 'because of me of course' gesture, yet remains silent. The other three nod their heads. Of course it was because of Squalo. Plus it was rather hard to get anywhere near Xanxus when the Boss had his X-Guns out and charged. Taking away something Xanxus considered he owned was a good way to fuel the rage he needed for his Flames to work.

Xanxus looks over his men before clicking his tongue and looking away. "Che, because you are all weak trash." He answers.

"Mou~ Those men were well trained." Defends Lussuria. "Although how those fake Arco-whatsits think they are on the same level as the Arcobaleno when they have subordinates to help them is unbelievable. The Arcobaleno don't rely on anyone else."

The others had to agree.

* * *

><p>"Wow, weapons sure have changed over the past four hundred years." Comments G, ducking under something that was flashing and making a zapping noise. "Lampo, you should try this."<p>

G. grabs the arm of his attacker and flips the man over his shoulder before putting a bullet in his leg. As the man grabs his leg to stop the pain, he drops the tazer, so G. picks it up. He presses the blue button on the side and the box makes the same zapping noise. He wondered whether Lightning Flames could do the same thing? Leaning down he tries the tazer out on the man he'd shot earlier. The man spasms and makes a weird gurgling noise before going limp and not moving for a long time.

"Good stuff this." He comments, nodding to himself.

He is suddenly chucked over someone's shoulder. "Oi, what do ya think you're doin'?" His bow was currently now digging into his back rather uncomfortably in this position, not to mention his arrows were about to fall out of the holder.

"You should pay attention G." chides Giotto, finally putting G. down after punching some guy's lights out.

"But Giotto, have you ever seen one of these?" asks G., holding the tazer out. "It's like a lightening strike stored in a box! I wonder how they managed to get the lightning in there?"

"Well you can ask Verde later when we return." Sighs Giotto, G. was always interested in the newest thing available. The amount of money he used to spend on the latest gun parts was amazing.

"Should you two really be having a granny nattering session here?" asks Cozart, walking up to them casually. Behind the red head, two men who were suspended in the air by gravity fall to the ground.

"Well, there's not really a lot to worry about, the others seem to be having fun and have got it covered." Shrugs Giotto.

"Che, that's assuming that Daemon and Alaude don't have so much fun that they tear the place down around us. This church does look rather unstable." G says in a warning tone. The pair never really bothered about property damage, having come from rich families who sorted out all of their messes.

"Talking of churches, Knuckle looks like he's about to burst a blood vessel over there. I don't think he likes the idea of fighting in a church." Comments Cozart, nodding in the priest's direction.

With a right straight directly in the solar plexus, yet another man falls before Knuckle. The priest takes the hymn book that the man was about to throw towards him and places it with the others of God's books he had managed to save. He may have gone over his three minute time limit, but he was sure that God would forgive him just this once. Violence should not be committed in a place of peace and sanctuary.

Another opponent comes towards him, so Knuckle meets him head on, his fist meeting with the metal of a gun and denting the weapon before it is forced out of the man's grip. A quick jab to the temple renders the man unconscious and he falls to the floor. A knife grazes the back of his leg, so he quickly spins around to face the cowardly attacker. Even if his footwork is hindered slightly, it is more than fast enough to dodge the next knife and come into the man's personal space. Once there, Knuckle gives a few consecutive jabs to the man's torso, followed by a left hook under the chin.

Across the room, metal clangs against metal before the sound of a gunshot going wrong resounds. G. hisses in sympathy automatically at the sound, he himself knowing how painful a backfire is. Looking over to the unfortunate soul, he finds the man knocked in the back of the head by the hilt of one of Asari's swords. Asari had come in and cut off the barrel of the gun, causing the misfire.

With the sword in his other hand, Asari spins it around his hand, deflecting the bombs that had been thrown at him. They fly into a crowd of enemies who were trying to get through Lampo's shield. Good luck with that. Lampo's shield was practically impenetrable when he was curled up like he was. He was still protecting their escape route like he said he would. Within a few seconds the bombs go off, and the enemies fall to the ground, clothes blackened and charred. Lampo himself was unharmed, but did peek around his shield to check what was going on. Asari waves to him to let him know the blast was his fault, before turning back to his opponent.

In three flashes of blue the men around him shout out in pain, their weapons dropped to the floor and useless. With three quick yet harsh taps, all three are unconscious.

However the blast from the bombs shakes the room, causing some cement and tiles to fall from the ceiling. Cozart uses his control of gravity to stop the debris landing on his comrades before sending them flying into the enemies around him instead. Alaude growls, brushing the dust quickly out of his hair and off of his coat. Daemon does the same after felling his most recent attackers.

"And that makes 24." He smiles confidently at Alaude, knowing he had more than the other.

With a harsh twirl of his wrist, Alaude's handcuffs go flying towards Daemon, who ducks under the rather obvious attack. However the handcuffs actually land on an enemy who was coming up behind Daemon. With a tug, the man comes stumbling forwards, trips over Daemon and lands on the floor. A few swift blows finish the man off. Alaude sneers down at Daemon who was sprawled out on the floor.

"28." He supplies, before turning and running across the room to find someone else interesting to fight.

Daemon grumbles as he stands up, brushing even more dust and litter off of his jacket, noticing every rip and tear it had. He clenches his fists in anger before looking up at the nearest enemies. He gives them a devilish grin, promising a painful end. The enemies gulp and take a step backwards at the expression, slightly scared of him. That fear builds as they watch the one of the man's eyes change into a spade shape. That was not normal.

Giotto sighs from over the other side of the room, watching as Daemon mentally broke the minds of the men he was fighting. But he doesn't watch for long since his hyper intuition acts up at that point.

Luckily G. was still shooting arrows and covering Giotto's back or else he might have gotten hit for his lack of concentration. However, after years of friendship, G. already knew to watch Giotto's back. Many thought that G. was constantly by Giotto's side due to his position as Giotto's Right Hand Man. But that wasn't the case. Over many battles together, G. had noticed moments where Giotto would lack focus and stare into space for a moment before suddenly looking with adept focus at some random point or person. Just like he had done now. So to keep his best friend safe, G. automatically covered Giotto just incase one of these moments of intuition appeared.

Giotto looks up to the ceiling, watching as a huge crack across it gets wider and wider. He quickly realises that it's going to fall. There had been shakes and shivers from underground for quite a while now, no doubt from Xanxus's X-Guns and the battles the Arcobaleno were certainly having. Add those in to the damage his own Guardians were doing, and it was a wonder how the building was still standing. With a burst of Flames from his gloves, Giotto flies to the ceiling to try and hold it up. If worst come to worse, then he could try and burn the falling ceiling instead.

"Everyone! Be careful with the building. It's not stable and is going to fall soon. Hurry up so we can get out of here." He shouts. The Guardians give shouts back to say that they've heard him. Not that they remain careful for longer than 5 minutes.

There is another shake from underground and more of the ceiling breaks away. "I'm serious guys! It could collapse with just one more-"

**BOOM!**

A section of the wall near the door is unexpectedly surrounded in dust. There are shadows in the dust, barely visible. The Guardians just hope it's not more enemies. And it isn't… kinda. As the dust settles, it is revealed that the Varia have arrived.

"VROIII!" Squalo shouts, steping into the room. "So this is where you've been keeping them!"

"Ahh~ Look. Even more handsome men in uniform~" coos Lussuria, taking a good look around at the few left standing.

Basically, the Varia had gotten to the lowest level of the place, only to find the remains of a torturing session, Mammon and Reborn. Before Squalo can even finish a 'vroi' or before Belphegor can run over to pull on Mammon's cheeks, a black portal appears behind them and the Arcobaleno disappear, dragging an unconscious man after them.

Of course that meant that the brat was safe, meaning there was no one to punish. So getting bored the Varia decided to see if there was anyone else to fight against. As they climbed back to ground level they heard the sounds of another fight. With a quick blast of Levi's lightning, the wall had been destroyed, creating their grand dramatic entrance.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Giotto roars as the ceiling starts to collapse.

* * *

><p>Needless to say, two teams of dust covered men arrived back at Mafia Row early that morning. Apart from Xanxus, who was still as clean as when he'd walked out. He had used his X-guns to destroy the ceiling before it got to him. A piece of rock was not going to be the end of Xanxus. That blast of Flame had also saved the majority of the Varia too. Cozart had a harder job, having to save many different people from different parts of the room. He was currently over Giotto's shoulder since using that many Flames after a long battle had wiped him out.<p>

The two groups glare at each other since the battle had had such an unorthodox ending, before turning away and each entering their own houses.

Well, at least Tsunayoshi had been saved.

Too bad it wasn't by them personally.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm, the Varia part sounded a lot more like a Thief chapter than a Mafia Row chapter. Oh well, that's easily rectified in the next chapter where I'm bringing back the cute! <strong>

**I hope to see you all there tomorrow!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 12 December 2012**

**Since I wasn't planing on this chapter, I had to come up with a title for it, 'and us' fits onto the end of the rest of the sentence, making it: **

**_When something important has gone missing, you ask everyone, look everywhere and do all you can to find it again and deal with whoever had dared to steal it from you and us._**

**__Sounds a little weird now, but oh well. The Varia and 1st Gen weren't pleased that Tsunayoshi was taken either so it fits contextually. **


	61. There are Places

Chapter 61:

There are places

**Please make sure that you have read the last chapter that shows the Varia and 1****st**** generation's points of view. I uploaded it yesterday instead of Sunday like I was supposed to since I was so busy.**

* * *

><p><em>Sometimes there are places where you really want to be.<em>

_Sadly for Tsunayoshi, that day, it was two places at once. And even Verde hadn't figured out how to clone someone yet._

The moment everyone had gotten home, Bermuda fell to his knees in a coughing fit. Tsunayoshi was quick to scramble out of Lal's arms and check on the Mafia Jailer. But he didn't like what he saw, for the bandages covering Bermuda's face were getting redder and redder by the second.

"Verde! Verde! Quick! Something's wrong with Bermuda. Verde, fix him quick!" Tsunayoshi cried, trying to hold Bermuda up. Fon soon came over and picked Bermuda up before carrying him down the stairs behind Verde. Tsunayoshi starts to run in the same direction, not wanting to leave Bermuda alone. However, a pair of arms pick him up and stop him.

Tsunayoshi struggles in this person's grip, determined to get down and follow the others. "Let me go! I need to help!"

"Calm down, kora." Orders Colonnello, holding Tsunayoshi even tighter despite his struggles.

Luce walks over and holds Tsunayoshi's face in her hands. A light tap against his cheeks brings his eyes to hers instead of looking over her shoulder in the direction of the Laboratory. "Tsunayoshi, calm. You know that Bermuda is in safe hands. Verde will do everything he can to help Bermuda, okay?"

"B-but, what if Verde wants to take Bermuda's bandages off? He can't be allowed to do that! Bermuda got hurt because of me and I want to help." Tsunayoshi sniffs as tears start to run down his face.

"Verde wouldn't do that. Remember he's dealt with Viper for a long time, and with many other difficult people too. Bermuda had been with us for nearly a year now Tsunayoshi, so Verde won't do that, he knows not to. I know you want to help Tsunayoshi, but the best thing you can do is stay out of Verde's way. There's nothing else you can do."

"But I can hold the needles and fetch the plasters and I'm really good at cleaning cuts with the germ-defence cream! I can help, I really can." Tsunayoshi pleads, his expression pulling at Luce's heart strings.

She takes Tsunayoshi out of Colonnello's hold and hugs him tightly, slowly stroking his back. "Verde's got Fon to help him with that. I'm afraid that what's wrong with Bermuda isn't something that a plaster and a kiss can fix." A plaster and a kiss on the boo-boo was Luce's magic formula to make cuts disappear quicker.

"I need a plaster and a kiss though Tsunayoshi," says Skull, in as happy a voice as he can muster at this point. It was horrible seeing Tsunayoshi like this. Skull would make sure to bring Tsunayoshi's smile back. He walks forwards and shows Tsunayoshi one of the smallest cuts he had on his forearm. "See? I want Doctor Tsunayoshi to fix me up, not Professor Verde." Tsunayoshi looks up at Skull and his infectious smile, and smiles too.

Poor Skull, however, is soon kicked out of the way by Colonnello. "Hey! Lal's going first and then I'm going after, kora. You can wait your turn lackey." Colonnello decides.

Luce gives Tsunayoshi a small bounce on her hip, "So think you can handle that? That's a lot of plasters and kisses." Tsunayoshi nods, of course he could handle that!

"Good boy. Now let's get you out of those clothes and into something cleaner." Luce suggests, since Tsunayoshi's clothes were just as ripped as everyone else's. And she had worked so hard on that lion outfit too!

Luce decided that they might as well fix Lal and herself up first. The other two could either wait or ask each other for help. However, before she and Lal got fixed, Tsunayoshi needed to be tended to first. Luce sits Tsunayoshi on the edge of the bath tub whilst Lal digs around for her army grade medical kit. Finding it, she uses her knife to help remove the clothes that had gotten stuck to Tsunayoshi's skin. Luce then used the warm water of the bath to wash off any blood that was on the boy.

"Ouch, Lal that hurt." Hisses Tsunayoshi as Lal plucks a splinter out of his back.

"Be strong Tsunayoshi, I'm nearly done." Says Lal, focusing in her task. There was a lot of gravel and splinters in the boy's back and sides, like he'd been kicked across the floor.

* * *

><p>A little while later, Colonnello walks down the corridor, Skull trailing behind. The girls had been in the bathroom ages. They were bleeding too here you know. Colonnello presses his ear against the door to see if he could hear what was going on. In fact, it sounded to him like they were having a water fight. They were laughing and giggling and everything. What happened to being patched up?<p>

Skull can hear this too, but he doesn't mind as much. It was good to hear that Tsunayoshi could still laugh even after going through a kidnapping. But still, he really wanted to go next and get Tsunayoshi to help him clean his cuts up. He quickly hides the devilish grin he gets.

He takes a few steps away from the door before loudly saying. "Oh, Colonnello, what are you doing? Peeking at Lal in the bath again?"

Colonnello looks over at Skull with a stunned yet angry look on his face. Skull just smiles back, proud to have gotten some revenge for once.

The result is immediate. The bathroom door slams open, slapping Colonnello in the face, as well as revealing Lal dressed in nothing more than a towel.

"Pervert!" shouts Lal, giving Colonnello a few slaps for good measure. Colonnello doesn't have time to check Lal out since he's too busy running away from her. Or at least running as best as the pair can in their injured state. Still, Lal was quite accurate when throwing random objects at Colonnello.

"Ne, Tsunayoshi, why don't you go help Skull?" Prompts Luce as she finishes wrapping bandages around Tsunayoshi's torso. "And make sure to wear your doctor's outfit, okay." Tsunayoshi nods before running out of the bathroom to go and get dressed. The doctor cosplay went with Tsunayoshi's Verde-cosplay but with a few accessory changes.

Skull walks in and over to Luce, before wiping away a few tears she had. "You need to get those sorted before they stay like that." He chides. "You're so strong Luce, looking after him even with one hand of broken fingers." He takes her hand and looks her in the eyes. "Ready?"

Skull knew from the many times he had had to heal himself how to fix broken bones. They were a common occurrence, especially during training. So when Luce nods back, he looks down at her fingers and starts with her pinky. "Three, two, one." Luce hisses as the bones are forced back into their correct places. Skull works quickly but carefully, trying to cause as little pain as possible. By the time Tsunayoshi comes back into the room, her hand is tied to a splint and wrapped up.

"It seems like Doctor Tsunayoshi will see you now Mr. Skull," says Luce in a half laugh.

So person by person, Tsunayoshi does what he can to help the others not hurt anymore. Skull was the least hurt, with only cuts and bruises from his grapple with Dominic. Colonnello was hurt worse, but Lal had dealt with his bullet and knife wounds before she let him anywhere near Tsunayoshi.

Eventually, they sit in the living room with calming cups of tea and fruit juice.

And that's when the final two members return home. Reborn kicks the door in, carrying a sleeping Viper in his arms. With her broken ribs, it was too dangerous to carry her over his shoulder.

"Reborn! Viper!" Tsunayoshi shouts as they enter the room. He stands on the sofa to be at a better height to see them at. "Is Viper okay?"

Reborn nods. "She will be. Luce, get her ribs wrapped up quickly. Her breathing still sounds alright to me but I don't want to risk anything."

Luce nods, and her and Tsunayoshi follow Reborn up the stairs and into Viper's room, where Reborn puts her down.

When Luce was finished wrapping Viper's broken ribs and hand along with the other injuries the psychic had sustained, she walks to the door, holding it open slightly. Not hearing another pair of feet behind her, she turns back towards the bed. There she finds Tsunayoshi pulling the covers up over Viper's shoulders before settling down himself.

"I'm going to stay here and look after her." He replies, yawning afterwards. Luce nods before turning out the light.

Yet hardly a few hours later, Tsunayoshi is up again, pacing infront of the stairs leading down to Verde's laboratory.

"Is Bermuda okay yet?"

Eventually Verde climbs the stairs up and grabs the boy. He could hear the boy fretting from down there.

"Bermuda is in the clear, but he is still very weak. It's going to take a few days for the poison to leave him totally." Verde explains in simple terms for Tsunayoshi to understand. He sees Tsunayoshi's hopeful expression, "Yes, it is safe to do so if you are careful."

Tsunayoshi's face lights up before he walks over to where Bermuda is resting. He would have run over, but running is not allowed in the laboratory. He climbs up onto the bed and gives Bermuda a careful hug.

"Don't worry, something like this cannot stop me. I'll be back to fighting crime in no time." Bermuda says reassuringly. Tsunayoshi giggles since that made Bermuda sound like a super hero.

"You got new bandages on." Tsunayoshi states, brushing a hand against them. Seeing the red bright against the white and black Bermuda wore had been rather scary.

"Yes, Jager came over for me and helped Verde out." Bermuda supplies. "He also tells me that Reborn and Viper brought the man to the Vendicare for a visit." Tsunayoshi makes to protest, but Bermuda stops him. "No, Tsunayoshi. He broke Mafia Law by involving an innocent child. He will be punished fairly for his crime before being released. You should be glad that no one killed him after you left."

Tsunayoshi can't argue back to that. So instead he just hugs Bermuda tighter and the pair end up falling asleep.

But yet again after a few hours he is up and checking on Fon and Verde, making sure that all of their cuts have plasters on.

Then he goes and checks back on Viper, falling asleep next to her.

Two hours later and he's back with Bermuda.

And then Viper.

And Bermuda again.

Viper.

Bermuda.

Viper.

Bermuda.

And even if it does mean getting hardly any sleep, sometimes there are just places that you need to be.

* * *

><p>Later on that evening, Reborn finally catches Tsunayoshi, asleep with his arms around Viper's uninjured arm. He sighs. That boy needed to learn how to be selfish. Reborn could see how much pain the boy himself was in. Most of the wounds were the type to bruise, like the hand print around his neck or the bruise from a kick to the stomach. Plus, Tsunayoshi seemed to be rather stiff, the effects of using the Dying Will bullet on someone so young. He still hadn't found out who had shot that bullet either. And he knew it to be a Dying Will Bullet since he had found the casing after everyone had left.<p>

He places a glowing yellow hand on Tsunayoshi's hair, stroking it. Reborn was the least hurt out of all of the Arcobaleno and had already healed himself whilst Viper finished whatever illusion she had been doing. So he had Sun Flames to spare. He heals the boy enough to remove the stiffness from his joints and to make the swelling of the bruises go down.

Finally he leans across further and places the same glowing yellow hand on Viper's shoulder. Her immediate reaction is to hold Tsunayoshi closer before lashing out with a conjured up knife. Reborn doesn't mind, already moving away from that attack. He had trained that instinct into her when they were training under the Ninth. Although it used to be that she held her money closer rather than Tsunayoshi.

With the pair now a step closer to recovery, Reborn leaves the room before he can be discovered.

But still, one little boy smiles at the Hitman's antics before snuggling back down to sleep.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Tsunayoshi was walking down the Row on his way to see Hayato to apologise for missing their play date. Not that it was his fault, but still, it was polite to. As he walks past the house belonging to the Bovino Scientists, he hears a lot of shouting. That usually meant that something had gone wrong in their experiments, or that there were conflicting theories on a certain topic and the scientists were having an argument over which one was better. You knew the argument was a bad one when they resorted to asking Verde his opinion.<p>

Although the shouts didn't sound like an argument. No, they sounded more like something gone wrong. Maybe one of their robots was chasing them, or many they'd created a moving plant. Tsunayoshi giggles to himself at that thought.

Absently, Tsunayoshi looks in that direction as anyone else would do, trying to see through the gates to find out what the commotion was about.

But maybe if he had been looking at where he was going, he would have seen the baby blue bazooka rocket heading straight for him.

* * *

><p><strong>There we are people. Hope you enjoyed it.<strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 13 December 2012**


	62. And There Are Times

Chapter 62:

And There Are Times

**I would like to thank ShamelessDilettante for building on the idea of time limits for me and helping me to flesh it out!**

* * *

><p>It is important to always look where you are going for you never know when a bazooka rocket might be heading directly towards you.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Storm tried to look anywhere but at Sky. Strategist looks away too, holding his stomach. Sky was being rather scary at the moment. The pair didn't like the look their friend and boss had on his face. <em>

"_Lucky. Just safe." Roboticist says in his usual calm voice. That voice had broken into the silence in his usual style, breaching the tension. But lucky was right._

_Sky keeps hold of Storm's wrist, hands shaking slightly as he stares at the watch. "Six minutes." He whispers harshly. He looks up, the power of his glare forcing Storm to look at him. "Six Minutes Hayato! If you had stayed there 6 minutes more then you would have been over the weekly limit. You know the consequences of over staying in an alternate dimension don't you? You know how long your limit is _don't you_?" Storm nods silently. _

"_**Say it Storm**__." _

_Uh-oh, that was the Boss voice. "5.9 hours Juudaime. My limit is 5 hours and 54 minutes." He faithfully replies, albeit rather guiltily. He'd been careful, he really had. He'd set the machine to bring him back at regular intervals so that he didn't go over his time limit. _

"_Exactly." Sky says, nodding his head sharply. But then his grip on Storm's hand loosens and his eyes soften. "I just want you to be alright. I couldn't take it if you got sick trying to fix a mistake I made." He leans forwards and places a hand on Storm's forehead. "No fever. You're not feeling sick? Tired? Hungry? Like you're about to die? Nothing?"_

_Storm smiles and shakes his head. "Don't worry Juudaime. I am perfectly fine." He twists his hand to be able to hold Juudaime's and brings the knuckles to his bowed forehead in a gesture of apology- Juudaime didn't like him bowing anymore. "I apologise for making you worry Juudaime. Thank you for your concern." However, he receives a bop on the head. "Ouch."_

"_That's for making me worry." Sky pouts. "But I'll forgive you. Really what would I do- ouch!... Ah…" Sky suddenly hisses, placing a hand against his temple. _

"_Juudaime?"_

"_Tsuna?"_

"_Vongola?"_

_Sky ignores the three worried calls from his friends, instead trying to clear his pounding head. This was much worse than the last headache he had had. And that had been when… Oh No._

_He stumbles over towards the security camera footage that Shoichi and Spanner had in their lab and quickly scans over all the screens. The last time a shooting pain like this had happened, admittedly on a much less painful scale, had been… _

_And there on Screen 8 was a very familiar looking cloud of smoke, although looking a lot lighter blue than the one the enemy used. Slowly the cloud dissipates and Sky gets a flash of fluffy brown hair. _

_His stomach drops as he realises just who that must be. He hisses as another wave of pain goes through his skull and down his spine. He needed to get out of here. _

"_Ah, I'm fine. I'll get Verde to look at it. I..ah…need to see how far he's gotten on… um…hss…the medicine, yeah, the medicine for you Hayato." He straightens up as best as possible, trying to look more Boss like in an attempt to make Storm listen to him. "And I need you to…ahh… take very good care of our guest. I'll be back…ow, in exactly 26 hours."_

_Before the others can question him, Sky runs over towards their garage, grabs his flame-powered hover bike and hightails it out of there. _

"_But I'm not sick, Juu…daime?" Storm stutters. What was wrong with him? He really should chase after Juudaime, but he'd just given out an order. _

_He shares a look with the other two mechanics in the room, before shrugging his shoulders and exiting the lab. Juudaime had said they had a guest, so he had better go and greet them. Although he had to wonder just who this guest was if Juudaime didn't want to meet them. If it was Xanxus and the Varia with more bills then Storm would personally shove some dynamite down Xanxus's throat._

* * *

><p>"*sniff* Owwiee… My head hurts." Mumbles Tsunayoshi, rubbing his head. But where had this light blue smoke come from. Oh, it wasn't from a training exercise Lal was putting on was it? She would go straight back to training, wounds or no wounds. Poor Colonnello. Or maybe it was Reborn? Hmm, if it was then he'd better get off the floor quickly before Reborn shot at him. How had he ended up on the floor anyway? Oh yeah, he'd tripped when the blue smoke surrounded him.<p>

Hearing a noise somewhere outside the smoke, Tsunayoshi rolls out of the cloud, onto his knees with his hands ready to fend off whatever Reborn or Lal was about to throw at him. Knife, bullet, grenade, whatever, he was ready for it.

"Che, hands up B*****ds. You're in the middle of Vongola Neo territory. If you've come to assassinate Juudaime then you're going to have to get through me first."

"Hey! No naughty words!" Tsunayoshi admonishes, slapping the wrist of the man infront of him. He calmly takes the dynamite out of the man's hand and puts out the fuse before something bad happened. Hayato got hurt enough with them for Tsunayoshi to know how to put them out.

"Huh?" Says Storm, slowly looking down. That certainly wasn't one of the Enemy. And now that he got a better look, the cloud wasn't dark blue but a light baby blue. Like a mixture of the Dimension Bazooka and the Ten Year Bazooka.

"Chibi?" He says. Unless Juudaime had just gotten hit with the Ten Year Bazooka twice? But Juudaime had just gone in the opposite direction, and was now wearing totally different clothes too. He had never seen Juudaime wear a neko hoodie before.

"Cheebii?" Tsunayoshi asks, tilting his head. "What does that word mean? Some of the people in Mafia Row Central call me it. It must be Japanese but I don't know much."

_Mafia Row Central? Then this really must be Chibi then. One way to find out. _"Never mind, ask them later. Tell me, who's your mother?"

"Mamma Luce is!" Tsunayoshi sings happily.

_Yep, this was Chibi. That would explain why Juudaime said he'd be back in 26 hours exactly. Time limits for inter dimension travel changed from person to person; Juudaime was amazing and somehow had a time limit of 27 hours. Coming back in 26 hours meant they had an hour to get Chibi back to his own dimension. But how did Chibi get here? _"Yes, that's right." Well, it wasn't, but to Chibi it was, as far as Storm had been told. "Can you tell me where you think you are?"

Tsunayoshi looks around him, now realising that they weren't outside anymore. They were inside. But this wasn't Hayato's house. It didn't look like any house he knew. Plus, this was Big-Hayato, not his Hayato. "Ah! You grew up again. Now you're just like the man in the cell again." Storm blinks. Tsunayoshi looks around again, something niggling at the back of his mind. "We are, we are in… my house?" But this wasn't the Arcobaleno's house either. He should know that best.

"Yes, we're in your house. But not _Your_ house, but my you's house." Explains Storm quickly. Tsunayoshi doesn't get any of that.

"Hayato, you're not making sense again." Tsunayoshi says, sitting down on the carpet. See, Hayato was smart, really really smart. And sometimes he'd say stuff that Tsunayoshi didn't get. So he'd sit down and wait for Hayato to explain it in a way so that he did make sense. Sometimes it took a while, but Tsunayoshi usually got there eventually.

"I'm not the Hayato you know." Storm explains.

"That's right. You're Storm aren't you?" Tsunayoshi says, saying out loud what those 'strange feelings' he gets are telling him. Storm nods once again. "Can you tell me where I am then? Reborn won't be happy if he doesn't know where I am."

"Reborn won't be able to find you here. You're in a different time. You're in the future." Again, that wasn't exactly true, but at this age, Chibi was more likely to understand the concept of being in the future better than the concept of Alternate Dimensions.

Tsunayoshi's eyes light up. "So that's why you're all grown up Hayato!" He runs forwards and jumps up to hug Big-Hayato. "Thank you for looking after me the other day. I was really scared in the dark but because you looked after me, I was fine and really brave and I stopped that bad man from killing the Arcobaleno. Aren't I good?"

Storm splutters, taking a few steps backwards at the power behind the hug (Tsunayoshi had Luce's hugging habits, meaning he could hug things to death too) and quickly wraps his arms around the boy to stop him falling. "I ah, er, well… you see… er… Well done. Looking after family is top priority." He finally manages to say.

Tsunayoshi leans backwards slightly to be able to look Big-Hayato in the face. "That's what Luce told me before they tried to kill the bad man." Tsunayoshi looks down, a frown on his face. He didn't like the fact that they had wanted to kill him. He understood the reasons behind the Arcobaleno wanting to kill someone, that's what happened in the Mafia after all, and they were only trying to stop the man from hurting someone else, but surely there was a better way.

Storm looks down concerned; that must have happened after he and the Hitman had left. Chibi must have inherited Juudaime's desire not to kill. He slowly tightens his arms around the boy since he didn't do girly things like hugging that often.

"I stopped them though. Bermuda is going to keep the bad man in the Vendicare." Tsunayoshi changes positions, fidgeting with nervousness. However he kicks something around Big-Hayato's waist. "Oh sorry. What was that?" He asks.

Storm puts the boy down quickly. He sure hoped that no one was watching that, he'd never live it down otherwise. "J-just my belt, don't worry about it." Luckily enough his belt didn't have the boxes on it anymore unless he'd lit his Vongola Gear.

"Wow, you wear lots of rings don't you?" gapes Tsunayoshi, grabbing Hayato's hand. But one in particular catches his eye. "You know, this one looks like Uri. I didn't know you liked my present that much!" He beams, laughing as he rubs a finger over the ring.

"_Prrr"_

Tsunayoshi freezes. It had sounded like the ring had purred at him.

Storm freezes too. _Not now you damn cat. Shut the hell up!_

Curious, Tsunayoshi rubs the ring again, despite Storm's attempts to move his hand away. It purrs again. He looks up at Big-Hayato, eyes wide and sparkling with surprise and happiness. However he finds Big-Hayato biting his lip and looking away. Oh, did that mean that it was just Big-Hayato playing with him?

"You nearly had me there Hayato- err Storm. I almost thought the ring was making a sound but it was you wasn't it?"

Truthfully, Storm had been looking away in hopes not to agitate Uri and make her come out of her ring. He'd been biting his lip to stop himself shouting at the ring. Because unless you were a Vongola, shouting at a ring was weird and NOT normal. But he'd go with what Chibi was saying.

"Haha, yeah, you caught me. You, err, seemed sad so I wanted to cheer you up." Storm says quickly making it up on the spot.

"Ahh, it would have been cool if Uri was a real cat." Tsunayoshi pouts. And for some reason he had a really good image of what Uri would be like if she was a real cat. She and Hayato would have fights all the time but secretly care for each other because neither liked showing affection.

Oh no, he'd made Chibi sad! He had to apologise. He quickly kneels down on the floor before smacking his head into the carpet. "Forgive me for toying with you Chibi. I should have never deceived you and made you sad. I'll go and find you a real cat right away." Maybe that would bring a smile back onto the boy's face.

Tsunayoshi giggles at Big-Hayato's antics. He was really funny and over dramatic. But maybe Big-Hayato wanted to play a game, sitting like that? So Tsunayoshi runs over and jumps onto Big-Hayato's back. "Hahaha, a Horsie ride! Yay! Come on then, let's go find a cat!" Tsunayoshi points a hand forwards as if telling his 'faithful steed' to charge. Although since this wasn't his house, he had no clue which direction a cat would be in. He and Skull played Horise all the time. Sometimes Colonnello would play it too. But Verde and Reborn never did no matter how hard he tried. Even puppy-dog eyes wouldn't get them to do it.

Storm almost chokes when Chibi jumps onto his back. He'd never played horsie with anyone before, not even Lambo or I-pin. What on earth was he supposed to do? The boy was bouncing on his back as if they were going to play a game or something and he didn't want to disappoint Chibi, but he couldn't do anything if he didn't know what the objective of the game was.

Storm is saved, however, when suddenly Tsunayoshi yawns. He'd been getting hardly any sleep recently since he wanted to check on everyone. Whenever he woke up, he'd go and sleep with someone else. He still stayed with Bermuda and Viper a lot though. He even managed to feed Viper her breakfast in bed this morning. He was rather proud of that achievement.

Storm breathes a sigh of relief hearing that and feeling the boy stop wriggling about. He leans to the side slightly so that Chibi slides off. Then Tsunayoshi is picked up again and held against Storm's chest. "C'mon Chibi, I'll find somewhere for you to sleep." Tsunayoshi nods, laying his head against Big-Hayato's shoulder. He felt quite safe here.

Storm strides down the hallways, trying to remember which room was a disused sitting room. He'd stuff Chibi in there and then no one would find him. He didn't want the others to find Chibi since they'd just fawn over the boy and want to play with him and then the poor boy wouldn't get any sleep. He looked just like Sky did when he'd been fretting over the Guardians who were out on dangerous missions. Storm had almost resorted to knocking Sky out with some sleeping pills the last time. Luckily, Hitman had gotten there first and knocked Sky out with a Leon Hammer.

"You always take such good care of me." Tsunayoshi mumbles after another yawn. "Thank you, Hayato. You're… the best…"

Storm blushes almost as red as his Vongola Ring. O-of c-course he'd take g-good care of Chibi. He was J-juudaime's Right Hand Man and he'd always look after Juudaime. Juudaime was the same in any dimension it seemed. So as long as Juudaime kept being a caring, trustworthy man deserving of love and respect, Storm would keep an eye on him, no matter the age, no matter the time, no matter the dimension.

* * *

><p>Storm eventually finds the room he was looking for, and lays Chibi down on a sofa before finding a blanket and covering the boy. Chibi makes himself comfortable, mumbling something about Reborn being a softie- which Storm couldn't believe, the Reborn he knew wasn't a softie at all. He silently walks out of the room with plans to come back and check on him in an hour to see if he had woken up again.<p>

Tsunayoshi wakes up slightly as the door is shut. He rolls over, lifting the blanket over his shoulders. Suddenly something soft lands next to his face. Blinking blurrily, he grabs it and looks, only to find that it's the Uri toy he had given Hayato. He smiles softly, hugging the toy close to him. Hayato was really nice sometimes, he just never liked showing his softer side.

As he slowly falls closer and closer to sleep, he reckons he must either be dreaming already, or really really wanted to imagine Uri alive, for he was sure that he could feel the cat's chest move as it breathed and feel it give him a lick on the cheek.

But that couldn't be possible for toy cats didn't move. Or maybe they did in the future?

* * *

><p>A little while later, Tsunayoshi half wakes up when he hears noises. The noises are moving chairs and voices. He kind of recognises those voices too. They sound like the voices he knows best, but just slightly… higher pitched.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>You're going to need your brains in gear for this arc since a lot of translating will need to be done. Obviously Sky and Storm are Tsuna and Gokudera. Hitman is Reborn, Strategist is Shoichi (because I couldn't think of anything else) and Roboticist is Spanner. This is the Canon!Dimension, by the way. <strong>

**And we're playing a guessing game again. So who's appearing in the next chapter?**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 16 December 2012**


	63. That Are Different From

Chapter 63:

That Are Different From

**Congratulations to those of you who remembered that the Arcobaleno are 12/13/pre-teen in this chapter since we are following the Canon!Ending.**

**So um… Spoilers for those who haven't read the ending yet I suppose. Although no one has asked me why Reborn was 12 a few chapters ago so I'm assuming you all know.**

* * *

><p>Disused.<p>

Generally meaning not in use, not being used, unfrequented, secretive, that you will be left alone. And it was for those reasons that the Ex-Arcobaleno decided to use a disused sitting room for their meeting since no one should be in there.

"It's been a year since all of us were in the same room," Sighs the Princess, "It's amazing how much you have all grown."

"It has been exactly 1 year 2 hours and 37 minutes since our last meeting." Precisely explains the World's Best Scientist. "Maybe there should be a longer length of absence between this meeting and the next. I am a busy person you know." He lifts his glasses back up his face before continuing to draw a diagram on the piece of paper infront of him.

"But I missed everyone," Whines the World's Best Stuntman. "We should meet up more often!"

The World's Best Martial Artist nods before pouring himself a mug of tea. He lifts the pot up with a nod towards Princess, asking if she wanted a cup too. "I agree, it is nice to have these gatherings. No one else would understand what we are going through after all." He finishes pouring the tea and passes it over to Princess.

"Che, what's there to worry about?" scoffs the World's Best Hitman. "Everything is easier this time round since we've been through it once before."

"Talk for yourself." Says the World's Best Soldier, crossing her arms. She and Princess were slightly different from the rest after all.

"I don't mind being a child again. After all, special children are much more of a selling point than talented adults." Argues the World's Best Psychic. She writes a figure down before putting that pile of notes in one sleeve and drawing a different pile out of the other. With practiced ease, she starts to count this pile too.

"And it's hilarious watching Mafiosi's face when they're beaten by a kid half their size. That should teach them to never judge others, kora." Laughs the World's Best Marksman.

Hitman smirks, crossing his legs as he tilts his fedora. "True, but you just like being able to fawn over Lal in public since everyone is less concerned with the actions of a child. I didn't think you and Lal would like child and mother roleplay."

"Why you, KORA!" Shouts Marksman, slamming his hands on the table as he stands. Soldier grits her teeth before grabbing the back of Marksman's shirt and pulling him back into his seat. A flash of gold glints off of both their hands. Hitman just smirks, knowing that was the reaction he was going to get. The rest of the group laugh or roll their eyes; time didn't change some things.

"Please everyone calm down. We aren't here to fight. Uncle, you should apologise to Colonnello and Lal." Orders Princess diplomatically. Hitman just clicks his tongue and looks away, not saying anything. The room goes quiet, everyone waiting to see if Hitman would actually apologise or if silence was the best they were going to get. Although all guessed the later.

But it seemed that this room wasn't as disused as they first thought.

There is the sound of movement from across the room near the fireplace. With an iridescent glow, Leon quickly changes into his gun form and Reborn shoots a bullet at the person sitting up. Maybe they were a spy or an assassin, although no one should know of this meeting. That was the only problem with being the World's Best at such a 'young age', everyone who was jealous thought they could take the Ex-Arcobaleno out easily. All were proven wrong.

"Heeii! I'm awake Reborn, I'm awake!" comes the cry of a young child before a shoe makes it's way rather forcefully over the sofa. Reborn moves his head backwards just in time to dodge the fatal item of footwear. The group stare at the shoe now sitting rather innocently on the table top. It was black and white with black fur around the top. And were those _kittens_ on the laces?

"Ahh, isn't that adorable?" asks Princess, picking the shoe up to examine it.

A head of fluffy brown hair appears over the back of the sofa, eyes slightly glaring towards the hitman. "Geez Reborn, why do you have to shoot at me to wake me up? A nice hello like Mamma Luce does would be fine you know."

He takes a look and notices everyone else is there. "Hmm? Breakfast time?" he wonders. He slides off the sofa and walks across the room before sitting on Reborn's lap. "What's for breakfast Mamma Luce?" he asks, looking up the table to where Luce normally sat. "Huh? You're not Mamma Luce." He accuses. She had Luce's puffy hat on and the same flower under her eye, but that wasn't Luce. Not at all.

The room goes deathly silent. Some kid had just dared to sit on Hitman like he owned the man. What was Hitman going to do? Shoot him, whack the boy with a hammer, kill him? But then again, what kind of person sat on Hitman anyway? He wasn't exactly the friendliest person in the world.

Hitman sits there and does _nothing_.

A click breaks the silence as Marksman readies a gun, clicking the safety off in the process. He didn't mind shooting at Hitman. However he was not letting an assassin anywhere near Soldier.

Tsunayoshi freezes before moving out of Reborn's lap quicker than the time it takes Colonnello to say 'kora'. What was it with them and guns this morning anyway?

**BANG BANG BANG!**

Bullets zoom across the room and towards the boy. Sending in a child was a new technique, no one had tried that yet, but they were not going to be fooled. He had seen enough child assassins to be wary of them, Lambo and I-pin being just two examples.

Amazingly the boy ducks under every single one of them, seemingly dodging them with ease. "Colonnello are you mad with me? Those are coming closer than usual." The small child claims, turning around to face them again. "I know I didn't let you kill that bad man but you promised me you wouldn't. Therefore you can't get angry with me." The other Ex-Arcobaleno look at Marksman to see if he knew that the child was talking about. He's hiding the confusion well but these people can tell.

The child runs around the table and jumps into Psychic's lap. "Viper, save me!" he asks, grabbing some of the money off the table and holding it infront of his face. Marksman growls; if he attacked the money then he'd have Psychic on his tail, if he attacked her specifically then he'd have the whole Varia after him. So he puts the gun down.

The other Ex-Arcobaleno though are wondering over the use of Viper over Mammon. Hardly anyone knew Psychic's real name since she had been going by Mammon for so long. A child of this age shouldn't know her as anything but the Psychic Mammon off the television.

"Ne, Viper are you feeling better now?" Asks the child, placing one hand against her cheek. Psychic doesn't say anything, too stunned over the name and the personal contact. So instead the child looks over towards Scientist.

"Verde, is she and Bermuda better yet? Hmm? Verde you look really good today. Did you finally get some proper sleep?" The boy climbs off Psychic's lap, crawls over the table (Mamma Luce wasn't here so he could, or else he'd be told off) and sits on Verde. Verde was looking fresh and younger than Tsunayoshi had ever seen him. He didn't have dark circles under his eyes or anything.

Scientist stares disbelievingly at the male in his lap. "Who are you?" he asks. He was sure that the Neo Vongola Primo didn't have a child, especially one this old. Princess would have been sure to tell him, even if he didn't want to know.

The child in his lap looks devastated at the question, eyes tearing up. "Ha, ha, Verde, funny joke." He sniffs.

"Don't cry little one." says Princess, drawing the boy's eyes towards her.

"Who are you?" he asks, eyes narrowing. "Who are you, why are you sitting in Mamma Luce's seat and why have you stolen her hat?"

Princess blinks a few times, rethinking over what the boy had just said. The other Ex-Arcobaleno get ready to move since it seemed that the child might attack Princess.

The boy looks from one Arcobaleno to another, eyes settling on Soldier. "Wow, Lal, you look… older." He says, the last word hardly being voiced. He places a finger to his lips and frowns cutely in thought. After a few seconds he looks around the room, at the walls and furniture. _Oh yeah, that's right._ "You're not them. I'm still in the future."

"You finally realised Chibi." Says Hitman, taking another sip of coffee. He had known who the child was from the moment he had thrown the cat-like shoe at them. If it had been Sky hit with the Ten Year Bazooka twice, he would have screamed and ran off, not thrown something back at them. Plus, only Luce would place a child in clothing like that. Nana had more normal tastes.

Chibi, that was what Big-Haya-err Storm had called him all the time.

"Chibi? Who is this brat kora?" asks Marksman, giving a sharp look towards Hitman.

"That child is from the Alternate Dimension Sky was talking about. He's supposed to be our saviour, so I wouldn't kill him if I were you. This is a Sawada Tsunayoshi raised and trained practically from birth by us before we were cursed. He also lives on a place called Mafia Row, meaning he's surrounded by the most dangerous Mafia Bosses all of the time. This isn't the Dame-Tsuna we all know."

"Oh, the child that we did that memory transfer research for." Remembers Scientist, leaning forwards to get a better look at the child on the table. "I'm assuming the experiment worked then."

"It did. I saw an example yesterday. He was using moves that the Arcobaleno from his dimension hadn't taught him. They were the attacks of the Guardians of this Time and Dimension." Hitman explains.

Tsunayoshi just looks from one person to another, not understanding anything Verde and Reborn were saying. Although he never did understand a lot of what Verde was saying anyway.

"We've been training him well it seems," Comments Soldier. "He did just dodge those shots from Colonnello."

"Yeah that was cool!" exclaims Stuntman. "Put it there." He holds his fits out for Tsunayoshi to bump. Tsunayoshi smiles before crawling over the table to Skull and giving him the desired fist bump. He then goes and sits in Skull's lap. Stuntman doesn't mind and just bounces the boy happily on his knees instead.

"I am amazed that the child has survived living with us for so long. Not very many of us even like children." Martial Artist comments, resting his head on a raised hand. "In fact, I wonder how **we** even live in the same house; we can barely manage being in the same room for longer than an hour. The only time we ever get on with each other is when we're on missions."

No one really wanted to remember those times. Sure they were some of the best missions they had ever gone on. They were challenging, they made the Arcobaleno think, they made the pulse race and adrenaline run fast. But they were just bait, all lies to bring the Arcobaleno together, they were a trap set by the Man in the Iron Hat. It was the prelude to their curse and they were still feeling the effects now.

"Why does everyone look sad?" asks Tsunayoshi. He thought they liked going on missions? He gives Skull a hug to try and make him feel better.

"We're just thinking about the past Chibi, it is nothing to worry about." Martial Artist explains to Tsunayoshi.

"Ah, that reminds me," says Tsunayoshi, taking a good look at each one of them, especially Lal. "If we're in the future, they why does everyone look younger? Shouldn't you all look as old as Lal?"

The Ex-Arcobaleno look at each other and then finally to Hitman. How to explain?

"Why do you think you're in the future?" asks Hitman.

"Because that's what Big-Hayato said."

"Did he say anything else?"

"Nope."

Hitman thinks about how to answer this question. There is an awkward silence since none of the others know what to do either. Apart from Scientist, none of the others were privy to this experiment. They didn't know what they should or should not tell the boy.

Princess sees this indecision on the other's faces, so decides to do something about it. "Hello there Tsunayoshi. My name is Princess, it's nice to meet you." She hopes to distract the child from the seemingly troublesome question he had just asked.

"It's nice to meet you. But your name isn't really Princess is it?" says Tsunayoshi as he crawls over the table to sit directly infront of her.

Princess smiles gently at him, before offering him one of the biscuits she had made especially for this occasion. "No it's not. However, I'm not born in your time yet so I don't want to ruin the surprise." Tsunayoshi slowly nods his head in understanding.

"Surprise?" he asks, tilting his head cutely.

Stuntman laughs, "Haha, yeah, because she's really a _spa~ce aaalien_." He wiggles his fingers to add to the effect.

Scientist gives Princess a side look, eyes sharp with the glint of scientific discovery. Sadly even after all these years, he hadn't been allowed to take DNA and blood samples to see if the Man in the Iron Hat's claims were true; that he and Princess were 'true Earthlings' and of a different species. He really really wanted to but the others stopped him time and time again.

There are multiple kicks from everyone around the table, even Psychic and Martial Artist. Stuntman yelps and bucks in his seat. That had _hurt. _

Tsunayoshi stands up, gives off his scary Reborn/Viper/Verde glare, and stamps his foot against the table. "How many times do I have to tell you to not harm Skull!" How could they still be beating Skull up in the future? He's going to have to work harder it seems.

The Ex-Arcobaleno look at each other after the glare is given, with nods of approval coming from certain members. They really were training this kid up well. He might have a chance to defeat their enemy after all when he grows up.

"Hey Lal, our kid needs to be this cute and awesome when he grows up, kora." Laughs Marksman, waving his hand for emphasis.

Soldier blushes before grabbing Marksman's collar and proceeding to slap some sense into him.

Tsunayoshi laughs at the familiar scene, but his eye is drawn to two flashes of gold. He crawls across the table once again, deftly catches Lal's hand mid-slap and holds it close to his face. If Soldier was shocked by this brats ability to catch her hand then she was going to be even more shocked by the next topic, "Lal, why do you and Colonnello have matching rings?" He innocently asks.

There are smirks and stifles laughter from the rest of the group as the pair blush almost the exact same shade of red. Colonnello gets over it first and sits up straight and proud in his seat.

With the hugest grin Tsunayoshi had ever seen on Colonnello's face, he says, "Because Lal and I are married."

"Married? What's that?" Tsunayoshi asks, automatically turning to Verde since he was the one to explain new words to him.

"A legal ceremony where two people swear infront of God, family and friends that they love each other and will stay together forever." Scientist answers, even if he didn't believe in such stupid ceremonies.

"To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." Repeats Colonnello, staring into Lal's eyes. She smiles softly before remembering that there are other people in the room. She turns her face away in the opposite direction but still entwines her fingers with Colonnello's.

"So Lal really is Colonnello's girlfriend!" Tsunayoshi sings happily. A girlfriend had been defined as someone you love and want to spend the rest of your life with, if he remembered correctly from his trip to the Tomaso house. "Then I want to get married too! I want to marry Mamma Luce, and Lal and Viper!"

Psychic and Soldier look horrified at the boy's statement. The others in the room laugh at their expressions and the innocent seriousness which the statement had been said with.

Princess giggles, hiding her smile behind her hand. "That's a wonderful thought Chibi."

"No it's not!" shouts Psychic. Weddings and honeymoons cost a whole lot of money and then there would be the cost of a house and the bills for the house, and then there would be a car, or two and then there would be children after that and _those_ cost a fortune!

All of that money… gone. She could feel it slip through her fingers.

"NO!" She shouts once more, releasing an illusion of some hell hounds to chase the horrible _horrible_ child out with.

Tsunayoshi, still scared of dogs (no matter how hard Reborn tried otherwise), screamed his usual scream before jumping off the table. The hounds chase him around the sofa as Tsunayoshi throws everything he can reach at the dogs. When that fails, he runs around the sofa once more before opening the door and running out into the corridor. Hitman throws the cat-like shoe out after the boy since he had no need of it.

"HHHEEEEIIIII!"

He runs down the corridor, keeping an eye on the hounds that were catching up with him.

"Ah Chibi!" someone shouts, but these hounds came before that person. He had to escape.

Suddenly he runs into someone's legs.

"Maa maa, are you alright?"

"That was some extreme running!"

He was, he was safe. He pants and sits on the floor after his run. He then remembers that he had just run into someone.

"Oh I'm sorry." He says whilst looking up, and up, and up into faces that he both did not and did recognise.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you like it. <strong>

**Translations for this chapter include: Hitman- Reborn, Princess- Yuni, Martial Artist- Fon, Soldier- Lal, Marksman- Colonnello, Stuntman- Skull, Psychic- Viper and Scientist- Verde. I called Lal Soldier since that's what we know her best as. I called Colonnello Marksman because he's a really good shot with a rifle and I wanted to give the pair different names. **

**See you next chapter!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 20 December 2012**


	64. What we were Expecting

Chapter 64

What we were Expecting. 

"Scientist! Scientist!... Hey Professor Verde!" Sky shivers in the wind of the mountain air. Why Scientist had his laboratory entrance here he didn't know. Most likely to deter intruders and those after the secrets inside this scientific gold mine, he reckoned. But still, why not somewhere nice and warm like the forest he had passed by earlier.

He hoped that Chibi was doing okay, there was no telling what his Guardians would do to the poor child. Except for a few, like Hitman, Mist, Scientist and a few others, no one else knew what Chibi looked like. The closest image they had was their imaginations of what he looked like as a child.

He'd have to ask Scientist what was going on. How did Chibi end up here? And why was _he_ still in the same dimension? Maybe the Dimension Bazooka worked differently to the Ten Year Bazooka… Bazooka! Of course, this must have been caused by a Bazooka of some sort. And since he hadn't been hit with one it must be from Chibi's dimension.

"Verde-e-e! Let me in please!" Scientist was nearly always here, so why wasn't he opening the door? Sky was one of the few people Scientist let into the laboratory, Storm, Mechanic and Roboticist being the other Vongola members that occasionally were allowed access. Sky's only 'get in free card' relied on him being a test subject for anything Flame tested- the other side of the bargain being that Scientist was not allowed to make Box Weapons for public Mafia consumption.

But none of that mattered when he was freezing his butt off.

"VEEEERRRRDDDEEE!"

Back in the not-so-disused disused room, Scientist sneezes, breaking the silence following Chibi's dramatic exit.

* * *

><p><em>He was, he was safe. He pants and sits on the floor after his run. He then remembers that he had just run into someone.<em>

_"Oh I'm sorry." He says whilst looking up, and up, and up into faces that he both did not and did recognise._

Standing infront of him is a pair of people that he recognises. Hundreds of images flash past his eyes but he can't clearly see a single one of them. Swords, boxing, laughing, shouting, friends, love, family. Safe.

"Chibi, what was with all the screaming? Tell me and I'll blow the f***rs into next week!" Storm announces reverently, a sharp gleam in his eyes. He even had his dynamites out ready.

"Oi oi, Storm, he's only a chil-"

"No naughty words!" Tsunayoshi says, taking the unlit dynamite and giving Storm a bop on the head with it. There are two rather loud sniggers in the background. "You shouldn't be using such naughty words Hayato." Tsunayoshi gives the man a stern look, wondering who had taught Hayato such naughty words and why he hadn't gotten rid of the habit already. Did he not care about the naughty words in the future?

Storm pales once again. How could he have forgotten that he was talking to a child? What if Chibi copies his language? He didn't want pre-cursed Arcobaleno after him! Storm quickly bows infront of Chibi, smacking his head into the floor.

"Please forgive me Chibi. I won't say anything like that infront of you again!"

"Hahaha, ahahaha!"

"HAAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The pair in the background couldn't take it anymore. The tiny boy looked like a child-King without a crown, with his faithful servant bowing at his feet. It was hilarious. They hardly ever saw Storm bow like that anymore, it brought back memories. But what was the most funny was that Storm, the hot headed, loud, short tempered, scary Storm had just been told off by a child. Where was a camera when you wanted one? That could be blackmail material for YEARS. If they could stop laughing long enough to even hold a camera straight, that would be.

"Tako-head you look stupid to the EXTREME!" Sun roars loudly, holding his stomach as he laughed. He'd never seen Storm look so stupid, and in his opinion, Storm did a lot of stupid things.

"He does not, to the Extreme!" Tsunayoshi shouts back, turning to face this mysterious not-stranger with fists on hips. It was a habit to use Ryohei's catchphrase whenever he was around the older child. It was so fun to say and made him smile too. Ryohei didn't even mind. It was such a habit that whenever the phrase was said, he nearly always repeated it back. He would have too, but realised in time that it would be an insult to Big-Hayato if he agreed.

"Yes he does to the Extreme!"

"He does not, to the Extreme!"

"Yes he does to the Extreme!"

"He does not, to the Extreme!"

"Maa maa," comes a calming voice before large hands pick him up. "Of course Storm doesn't. We just don't see him like that too often anymore. He's usually just a boring meanie that shouts at us." This man with kind yet sharp eyes, says, a huge silly smile on his face.

"Why you, Rain!" growls Storm, slowly and threateningly standing up, a horde of lit dynamites in his hands.

"YEESSS! That's true to the extreme. It's always, 'where's this report, where are those money graph things, why did you destroy _another_ building?'" Exclaims Sun, punching a fist into his hand.

"Well if _someone_ got their act together and thought of something other than boxing then maybe I wouldn't have to!" Storm shouts in reply. Tsunayoshi got the feeling this was normal. It felt like the arguments back at home with the Arcobaleno, mean words but no mean feeling to back them up. His 'feelings' said these fights were common too.

Or maybe Big-Hayato really was mad for he threw the whole horde of dynamites right at the person who acted like Ryohei. That wasn't good! (Although he was amazed by just how many Storm could hold. The Hayato he knew could barely hold a fifth of that number.)

He wriggles out of the hold this other person had on him- it wasn't particularly tight in the first place- before jumping into the air. He took a breath before remembering the moves Fon had taught him. As best as he can, Tsunayoshi spins and reaches for the dynamites in the air around him, pinching out the fuses, or kicking them to the ground instead. He had had a lot of practice since he had snuck into some of Hayato's practice sessions and stopped the boy from getting hurt. Which in turn made Hayato even more determined to get better so that Tsunayoshi-sama wouldn't get hurt saving him.

But there were far far far more dynamites than he was used to saving someone from. So some of them end up escaping past him and continuing on towards the Ryohei look alike.

But he needn't have worried, for half of them are cut in half by a flash of silver and the rest are plucked out of the air by the target himself and put out.

Tsunayoshi breathes a sigh of relief that the dynamites hadn't gone off before remembering why Big-Hayato had thrown them in the first place. He turns to the pair of adults before pouting at them and cutely stomping a shoe-less foot. "Hayato's not a big meanie! He still sleeps with his mother's cardigan doesn't he? And no meanie would do that!" Hayato wasn't a meanie, he was actually really sweet.

The jaws of the Ryohei look-alike and the Takeshi look-alike fall before they look up to stare at Storm. The man was currently speechless, blushing as red as his shirt whilst trying to look away. It was the last thing of his mother he had left and he'd made sure to keep good care of it. BUT he d-doesn't sleep with it a-anymore, alright!

"Do you Haya-chan?" asks Rain in a girlish teasing voice.

"So do you Takeshi," pouts Tsunayoshi. This was definitely Big-Takeshi, no one else went 'maa maa' like he did. "At that sleepover we had two months ago you'd lost it and couldn't go to sleep until you'd found it. You tried to pretend but I knew better than that! We went sneaky sneaky around the house like detectives trying to find it but your daddy caught us. It turns out it was under your pillow the whole time!" Tsunayoshi waves his hands to emphasis the last point. Takeshi had slept soundly after that.

"Pfft, what girls you two are." Laughs Sun, a hand over his mouth. The pair had gone bright pink.

"Hey, at least they can swim." Tsunayoshi says, looking up at the towering man.

"He's got you there Sun." retorts Storm.

"OOII! I can swim extremely well!" Defends Sun. He had been a life guard and everything.

The other three just give him a 'sure you can' look, all knowing perfectly well that what Ryohei did was not swim but drown in manly slow motion.

"Heehee, you're just like the baby Gatekeeper behind us. He doesn't like to admit that he like small animals but I know that he fixes them up and I even once found him in the forest asleep surrounded by them. It was like that picture from Snow White or Sleeping Beauty." Tsunayoshi smiles. And Kyoya still kept that bird that had fallen out of the tree during their first meeting.

"Gatekeeper?" asks Rain. They didn't have a Gatekeeper.

"I think you should be more worried about the behind us part." Storm states, feeling the deathly aura coming in waves from behind them. It was Rain's fault for not memorising the list of names he had given the swordsman ages ago.

A blur of black and purple flashes between the three adults before there is the sound of a crash. A ploom of dust rises from the newly formed crater in the floor.

"Hello Kyoya," smiles Tsunayoshi, having stepped out of the way of the attack barely in time. He was used to close counters. An attack like this was Kyoya's way of saying hello!

Big-Kyoya was wearing something different than what he usually wore. Instead of the military/school like uniform it was one of those Japanese robe things… ah, he'd forgotten the name. A kimono or a yukata or something like that. Haru's mother had made him wear one a few times saying how adorable he looked in it.

Cloud grunts in reply. "How do you know my name?" he asks. He didn't remember letting a child know his name or even ever giving out permission for it to be used by anyone other than Kusakabe.

"You told it to me silly." Tsunayoshi smiles brightly.

"Chibi, get out of there before he hurts you." Storm warns, trying to decide what position it was best to attack from. He couldn't let Chibi get hurt.

Tsunayoshi turns to Big-Hayato, still smiling. "Don't worry I'll be fine. I have my secret weapon after all." And he taps his nose.

Cloud is enraged by this. A mere child believed it could beat him? What foolish misguidings this herbivorous sheep had. And he had never slept in a forest surrounded by animals before. Just Hibirds.

Cold eyes remain on the boy as he talks to the bomb herbivore. Hn, he'd teach the herbivore to never take his eyes off of a predator. He raises his tonfa up and goes for another strike.

Tsunayoshi scrabbles backwards- Kyoya as an adult moved a hell of a lot faster than the one he knew did. Tsunayoshi had forgotten about that. He reaches out for the tonfa, his fingers brushing against the part he needed to press before Big-Kyoya moves his hand backwards for another strike. Tsunayoshi jumps backwards, the tonfa landing in-between his legs and cracking the floor. Phew that was close. He leans forwards, pressing at that spot again… he was nearly there.

Cloud grabs the herbivorous sheep by it's fluffy clothing, holding it still. This child had not had permission to enter the mansion, had dared to call him by his first name and had even shared secret personal information. It was disrupting the order and peace of things. It needed to be punished.

Even if the child was a lot better fight than any other child he had ever fought.

Tsunayoshi grabs at the hand holding him down. Luce would get mad if he ruined this outfit too!

Cloud draws his hand back for the next strike, but suddenly something feels off with his other hand. It's numb and tingling and… no longer holding the child. Staring at the hand, Cloud tried to get it to move. It doesn't. Had the… child done this? While his concentration was lacking in surprise, Cloud finds that the boy had attacked his other hand. The sound of his tonfa rolling across the floor resounds sharply in the hallway. Quickly the herbivore crawls across the floor and grabs his tonfa. What was it going to do, attack him with it? Cloud would certainly laugh if the child attempted that. But no. The child… the child… the damn Brat!...

**Dismantles it!**

The four adults don't believe it when the tonfa falls to pieces in the child's grip, chains and metal teeth clattering against the ground along with metal panelling.

Tsunayoshi looks up, shocked to find the adults looking shocked. "What, don't you remember? I did this to you the first time we met. Haven't I used it since?"

No the Omnivore certainly had never done that before.

Wait, Omnivore? Why had he thought that?

A Carnivore that hid in sheep's clothing, a child that could fight, a limb numbing move centred around pressure points, just like the Storm Baby, the likeness to Sawada Tsunayoshi and finally Storm's protectiveness over him…

He knew who this child was.

"The Arcobaleno have trained you well. I can't wait for you to grow up; it seems that you'll be a worthy opponent. I shall certainly bite you to death properly then." Cloud smirks.

"Hmm? What does Cloud mean?" asks Rain, looking between the child and the two people who seemed to know what was going on with the boy.

Storm drags a hand down his face. Really? Too bad the boy was here, he really needed a cigarette. "That's Chibi." Storm explains, pointing to the boy to make sure that the stupid idiotic pair got this. They stare blankly back at him. "He's Juudaime, just from a different Time and Dimension. Did you not read the report I gave you?"

Sun comes in closer, watching at the small child put all of the tonfa pieces back together as if it was a 3D puzzle. "Oh, so this is him. The one Sky decided could save us." He looks over the child with a critical eye, assessing what he could see and what he had already seen. His fighting forms were already coming along quite well. He was quite proud of the boy.

Rain too turns serious eyes on the boy, the eyes that could have belonged to a hitman once upon a rewritten future. Chibi seemed so much like the usual little boy, all smiles and tears. But that wasn't totally true, underneath was something more, something dangerous and the boy didn't even know it. The boy saw it all as natural. What had they done to an innocent child? No normal child smiled when getting attacked as if it was an everyday occurrence. No child didn't even bat an eyelid at dynamites. No child knew how to disarm and disable an attacker. But at least the boy seemed set on peace, even telling Storm off for his use of foul language. So far he'd used all of his powers for good. Rain just hoped that stayed that way.

"You can stop laughing at Kyoya now you know."

The four adults look at the child as if he's mad. None of them were laughing after all. Plus the child wasn't even looking in the right direction.

"That's not very nice. What has Kyoya ever done to you? Enemies? When did that happen?"

"But I'm glad you know. Seeing you like this means that you were saved!"

* * *

><p><strong>So who is Chibi talking too this time? <strong>

**I, the Mafia Row Committee, Tsunayoshi and everyone at Mafia Row wish you all a very merry Christmas!**

**Make sure to look out for my Secret Santa fic coming out some time tomorrow or on Christmas day. It's called The Day Santa Wore Orange. And I'm very happy to present it to one of my reviewers! **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 23 December 2012**


	65. But we'll take it all in stride

Chapter 65:

But we'll take it all in stride.

**I hope everyone had a good Christmas to the Extreme!**

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi was sat there fixing Big-Kyoya's tonfa, he knew it back to front and could fix it blindfolded by now. Like he said, Kyoya liked to attack him as his form of hello, which meant he had to dismantle the tonfa every single time they met. He was kind of like Reborn in that aspect. Over the past year he'd had a lot of practice dismantling and fixing it. He ignored the adults staring at him, he was used to that too. Lots of people stared at him as if he was something interesting. He didn't know what made him so interesting though, he was just an ordinary boy right?<p>

Rather suddenly he could feel eyes watching him, and these were not the eyes of the four adults infront of him. They were from further off, and the feeling was getting closer. He shivered from the intensity and the strange aura coming from the look. He recognises the aura just as his 'intuition' supplies him with the answer too.

The chuckles of the man ran down the corridor, but the adults didn't seem to be able to hear it.

"Kufufufu~ Skylark was defeated by a child? Kufu, oh how the mighty have fallen. I'm going to remind him of that moment every time he thinks he's better than me. Kufufu, yes, that'll put him back into place. But by a _child_ that looks so much like the sheep he abhors, kufufufu, kufufufu, ahfufufu."

"You can stop laughing at Kyoya now you know." Tsunayoshi says, briefly looking up at the man before him. His feelings had been right; This was Mukuro from the future.

"No I shall not stop laughing child. The damn Skylark needs taking down a peg to realise his place and I'm glad to see that someone other than I and Sky have done so. And by a child no less." Mukuro sneers, chin raised defiantly and loftily.

"That's not very nice. What has Kyoya ever done to you?" Tsunayoshi asks, putting the half fixed tonfa down on his lap to pay full attention to this matter. Two of his friends were fighting and he didn't like it.

"He sees us as enemies where as I only see him as a play toy and decent distraction. But anyway you name it, it doesn't matter. He is on the ground and defenceless, I have every right to laugh in his face."

What had happened in the future to make Mukuro like this? He seemed really sad and lonely, like he was on the outside looking in at the fun. But he didn't want to admit that he was lonely. Had Chrome and the others left him?

"Enemies? When did that happen?" Tsunayoshi asks in dismay. He would have to stop that from happening. He wanted all of his friends to be friends with each other, like one huge huge family!

Big-Mukuro looks sideward and down at him, locking eyes for a moment before turning to look back at Kyoya. "I would tell you that you should know the answer, but I locked the memories pretty tightly. Let's just say that Skylark likes to think he is top dog, but in actuality he isn't." Mukuro smirks, looking down at Kyoya haughtily.

Tsunayoshi just tilts his head, not understanding any of what Mukuro had just said. But it seemed to him that Mukuro liked fighting with Kyoya and they were enemies in the same way Reborn and Colonnello was. That meant that everything was really alright. Big-Mukuro might not have had the best childhood, living locked behind black iron bars in the Estraneo, but at least it seemed that he had a good future… locked behind?….

Tsunayoshi looks up at Mukuro before smiling brightly. "But I'm glad you know. Seeing you like this means that you were saved!" He wasn't locked behind bars anymore. His eye was bright red and he was here alive. That meant that Verde had kept his promise and saved Mukuro! And maybe the others too. He knew Verde could do it, Verde was a Super Scientist.

Mukuro looks down but doesn't say anything, thinking about what Chibi actually meant. Of course he knew exactly who was infront of him. He couldn't mistake his own Mist Flames after all. He may not have watched Chibi grow up like Sky had, but it was easy to guess what Sky would look like as a child. And this innocent, doe eyed, puffball was exactly what Sky would look like.

"Che, show yourself Pineapple." Orders Storm, having figured out what was going on first. It was all there in the words Chibi had said. After all, who else was enemies and would laugh at Cloud?

Storm blinks when suddenly Nebbia is right in his face, trident spokes poking the underside of his jaw. "Oya, I do believe that the paperwork has driven you insane Storm. Or has all that hot air finally left your head?" His eyes shine with a devilish light- he wouldn't care about harming Storm right here and now. Anyone who called him a Pineapple deserved to be sent on a one way ticket down the Path of Hell. In fact, he might just do that now, teach the puppy a lesson he won't-

Just as Nebbia is about to summon his powers and draw out Storm's greatest fear- and Nebbia idly wondered what that was: his sister's cooking? Being blamed for the death of his mother? A dying Sky that he could not save?- someone pulls on the trident, drawing it away from Storm's tender throat.

The pair look down at the end of the trident's staff to find a pouting Chibi pulling the staff towards himself. "Don't harm Hayato, Mukuro! He was only playing. You're a big boy now you shouldn't mind a nickname."

Rain and Sun laugh over Chibi's choice of words. They loved this kid, he was hilarious. Who else put the three most temperamental Guardians in place with a few words like a mother scolding naughty children? Could they keep him? They couldn't remember when they had last laughed this much, all out war was a serious and heavy business after all. He would be a nice bright ray of sunshine.

Nebbia though, is not happy. He slowly turns his head fully to look at Chibi and the child shivers in fear. That look was not a nice one, it was scary!

"Oya oya, the child dares to tell me what to do? I am the last person you want to anger young boy," He spat the last word out, refuting against the name Chibi had called him. "I am already quite ingrained in your brain, it would be easier than breathing to send you insane."

"Don't you dare Nebbia or I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget." Storm shouts, pulling Chibi behind him.

This man was scary! _Reborn, save me!_ _Viper, stop your student! _Chibi cowers in fear behind Storm's legs. His head hurt and his vision was going indigo and he wanted it to stop.

The atmosphere in the corridor changes as a wave of warm Flames surround them. Chibi peers around Big-Hayato's legs and watches as Mukuro slowly calms down. The process is jerky as if he's fighting the feeling the whole time.

"Che," Nebbia spits before turning on his heels sharply and striding down the corridor, disappearing into a cloud of mist down the far end.

Chibi jumps and shrieks as a hand taps him on the shoulder. What if that scary man was back again?

"I am sorry about Nebbia-sama," says the woman who had tapped him on the shoulder. Tsunayoshi stares at her, she was so pretty, long purple hair coming over her face with a soft voice. There it was again, that strange mix of Italian ad Japanese, but coming from her voice, or from the voices of these Not-strangers, it sounded right. "He is in a bad mood. The latest mission wore at his patience. He doesn't have much time for people he deems 'utter fools' and he's had to deal with them all day."

"You were the one to calm him down?" asks Tsunayoshi, staring at her in admiration.

"Hai, Chibi-Bossu," she agrees, bowing her head slightly. She too knew who Chibi was, having been part of the Memory Transfer Experiments.

"Yup, Kiri is one of the few to be able to calm Nebbia down when he's in a bad mood. Even Sky steers clear of him when he's like that. You were just unlucky, don't take it to heart." Explains Rain, rubbing the back of his neck in contemplation as he explains.

"We don't know why to the extreme!" Sun adds in. No one knew why Kiri's Flames calmed Nebbia down, but it did. The only other person who could calm Nebbia down peacefully was Rain, due to the tranquil nature of his Flames- although it was more like sedation than actual calming.

"I believe this belongs to you? They are too small to be Lightning 's shoes. Plus I don't remember him getting a pair like this. He's too old for them now." And most crucially, they were kittens and not cows.

Chibi looks down and remembers that he was indeed missing one shoe. He had thrown it at Reborn earlier. "Thank you Chrome!" He smiles. This had to be Adult Chrome, no one else he knew spoke with such a soft voice, or could be so close to Mukuro. Verde had saved her too then. She smiles back at him, a small sweet smile, before taking hold of his foot and putting his shoe back on for him. She pats him on the head once she's done. He gives her a hug back. He always gave Chrome hugs whenever he saw her. Although this Chrome was a little too large to sit in his lap.

"Did you complete the mission?" asks Storm warily, and slightly moodily. He was annoyed, very annoyed with Nebbia's behaviour. Although if Nebbia was like this there was a chance that their mission failed and Nebbia had attacked their own allies.

Kiri stands and brushes the dust from her skirt. She nods her head to Storm. "We finished it as per Bossu's orders." She reports.

"I expect the report on my desk by tomorrow morning." Storm explains.

Kiri nods, having expected this. "I shall do Nebbia-sama's report too. I do not believe he is in the mood to give a comprehensive report." That was an understatement. The last time Nebbia had handed in a report when he was in a bad mood, the report was so full of sarcasm and insults and gory descriptions of what Nebbia would like to do to the pathetic humans that had annoyed him, that Storm had ripped the report up and shouted at Nebbia for nearly an hour. Getting Kiri to do it meant that the report would be understandable, not mind scaring, and actually of some worth.

"I'm sure that Mukuro would like that. None of the Arcobaleno like doing paper work. It puts them in a bad mood. But he'll like it because his little sister did something nice for him!" Tsunayoshi claims brightly.

Kiri blushes at the statement and the sincerity the child had said it with.

"They aren't siblings though." Storm reminds. Even in Chibi's world Kiri was still Japanese and Nebbia Italian.

"They are close enough." Tsunayoshi pouts, looking over his shoulder at Hayato. "After all, Mukuro only learnt how to be an illusionist to keep Chrome alive. He wouldn't be very happy if she wasn't around. And Chrome is learning illusions to help Mukuro too, didn't you?" He asks the last question to Chrome directly. She looks at him confused.

The others look between themselves and eventually at Storm. That version of the story didn't sound right. It sounded like a fairy tale to them. They all knew that Nebbia saved Kiri on a whim, due to the chance that he could use her to gain relative freedom from his captivity.

Kiri though, felt touched that Nebbia-sama cared for her in other dimensions too. It seemed to be their fate to be tied together, for him to become her first reason to live.

Storm looks back at the questioning sets of eyes, before whispering with a hand to his mouth so that Chibi didn't hear. "He comes from a different dimension so of course things would be different. It's just how Mafia Row is. In his world the Mists are-"

"You didn't become an illusionist because the Estraneo told you to, did you?" Tsunayoshi asks, tilting his head to the side.

Kiri's eyes widen as she gasps, a hand covering her mouth. In his world she was _where?_ Chibi's world was 20 years behind them roughly, give or take a few months, so that would make her four. A helpless four year old stuck in the dastardly Estraneo, the place that had experimented on her friends, that had changed Nebbia-sama for ever. She was t-t-there? She didn't know which was worse, her past with her loveless parents or the reality of her alternate self. It was all so wrong and horrible. He felt so sad for the other her.

She stands up, one hand at her mouth with the other at her chest and takes a few steps backwards. Her wide eyes sparkle with unshed tears. She keeps on taking slow steps backwards until suddenly a cloud of indigo mist appears in the middle of the hallway. Green clothes arms and leather clas gloves appear from the cloud and wrap around Kiri before pulling her backwards into the mist. The cloud soon disappears, showing no Kiri or Nebbia.

There is silence for a few seconds.

"Did I say something wrong?" asks Tsunayoshi, turning to big-Hayato.

"They don't like to remember their pasts." Storm says quickly before any of the others can give a different answer. He gives them a sharp look to keep them silent. Plus, what he had said wasn't a lie. Kiri and Nebbia didn't like to remember their pasts, but those pasts were just different from the ones Chibi was talking about.

Chibi nods his head in understanding. But suddenly a growl fills the new silence and Tsunayoshi blushes a bright red, holding his stomach.

"Shh." He says to his stomach, looking down at it. When he looks back up, he finds the other adults starting at him. "Hehe, sorry. It's past Lunch time. Me and Hayato were going to have lunch at his house so I skipped lunch at my house."

"Maa maa, no need to apologise. It's important to eat three meals a day." Smiles Rain, his hands linking up behind his head as he smiled down at the boy.

"A good diet is important to the Extreme!" Roars Sun, punching a fist into the air. Diet was highly crucial when competing in sports. "Let's go get something to eat. I'll make an EXTREME snack!"

And without further hesitation, Sun picks the boy up, places him on his shoulders and runs full speed like a rocket for the kitchen. Which was all the way over the other side of the mansion.

Storm sighs, running a hand down his face. That stupid lawn head. Rain just laughs happily like always before setting off at a jog after Sun, he could do with a snack too, now that they had been mentioned, and a nice glass of cold milk too.

Cloud had had enough a while ago, but had stuck around to see if a fight would occur between Nebbia and the child. But since one didn't, he got bored and left some time during the conversation with Kiri.

Storm has no choice but to follow after Sun. Juudaime had said to keep an eye on their guest. And he wasn't letting Chibi get hurt after all the trouble he had just gone through. Being 'Puppy-watched' as Juudaime had called it was not a fun experience.

Tsunayoshi looked absently around the kitchen he was no in. Sun had gone to find someone to make his extreme snack. Apparently his girlfriend had the world's best recipe for whatever weird sounding snack Big-Ryohei had mentioned. There were far too many super, amazing, to the extreme and other such adjectives and not enough food nouns for him to actually know what he was going to end up eating. Although it seemed that it was very healthy.

Tsunayoshi freezes when there is a rattle in the empty room. It was only him here, so there shouldn't be any other noises.

The noise sounds again, and Tsunayoshi reckons that it comes from behind him. What was making that sound though? Was it a g-g-ghost? He didn't like ghosts, they were scary. Viper may love ghosts but he did not.

As the sound comes again, Tsunayoshi finally pinpoints where it's coming from. The pantry.

Should he go and check out what it was? Reborn and Verde would tell him off for thinking that ghosts were real. Colonnello would barge in there anyway and Fon would have no interest. Bermuda would pretend that it was a ghost to scare the daylights out of him and Skull. He had to be b-brave and go check what was in the p-pantry.

He creeps over on silent feet, reaching on tip toes to grab the door handle. He'd do it on the count of three.

One…

Two…

Oh please don't be a ghost. Don't be a ghost.

Three!

"**HEEEEIIII!"**

"**WAAAAAHHHHH!"**

There was a person in the pantry! There was a ghost in the pantry! It was going to come and eat his brains and possess him and he'd never see the Arcobaleno again! There were so many things he'd left unsaid. He didn't want to die!

"Heeii!"

"Waahh"

"Heeii!"

"Waahh"

"Heeii!"

"Waahh"

When Tsunayoshi realises that the ghost hasn't killed him yet, nor did he feel like he was possessed- he could still wiggle his toes on his own accord-, he peeks open one eye to see where the host was. Maybe there was still time to run for it.

But taking a closer look, he finds that it's actually a person, a living one opposed to the ghostly form of one. He gingerly leans forwards and gives a poke to the nearest part of the ghost/person. It was solid and warm. Phew, he wasn't a ghost.

"You scared Lambo-san who was hiding in this pantry eating cake away from Ahodera's eyes." The man says with a gasp.

"Lambo-san? You're Lambo?" asks Tsunayoshi in disbelief. Where had all of Lambo's hair gone? Although now that he looked closer he could see the similarities, like the marks under the eyes and the love of cow print.

"Indeed it is I, Lambo-san, the Bovino's greatest Hitman, who's favourite foods are grape candy and takoyaki. It is nice to see you Young Vongola." It never occurred to Lightning that this 'Vongola' was actually far too young to be the one he thought he was talking too.

"Wow, you grow up to be really big Lambo." Tsunayoshi gapes.

"Did you want some cake? Just keep it a secret from Bakadera. He says I've already eaten enough today. But what does he know? He doesn't even eat cake." Lightning pouts, holding the plate with a slice of cake on it closer to him protectively.

"I like cake. Luce makes a really good chocolate cake. We have to hide the cake though because Colonnello steals it all. Not because he likes the cake, although I think he does, but because Lal really likes it but doesn't want to be seen eating cake. We always make extra cake so that Colonnello can sneak some cake to Lal. Bermuda likes chocolate cake too. I found him one day eating it. He said he didn't, but I saw the chocolate stains on his bandages. He can't hide anything from me."

"B-Bermuda?" says Lightning with a quiver in his voice. He may not have been at the battle, but he's seen the damage the Vindice had caused. It was scary. "As in the leader of the Vindice?" Tsunayoshi nods. "He's scary. The last time we saw him was when he told Sky about the damage all the Space traveling the Enemy was doing was putting a strain on the , do you want any of this cake? If ot then Lambo-san will eat all of it."

"No, I want some, please." Tsunayoshi says, reaching out for the cake.

* * *

><p>"How could you have lost him?" Storm says, voice deadly and ice cold. "How hard is it to keep track of a single child?"<p>

Sun and Rain don't look at Storm, eye contact enraged him even more and usually meant being on the receiving end of a dynamite blast.

"All I did was go and find Hana to make me her extreme snack. When I got back he wasn't there anymore." Sun explains, scratching the back of his head.

"That's what you have a mobile phone for Lawn Head!" Storm shouts. "Now go and find him and don't come back until you do. We need to have found him before Juudaime returns tomorrow." He stabs a finger in the direction of the door. The pair nod and stroll out of the room. They had all day to find him.

And anyway, how hard could finding one child be?

"Hmm, you're missing a child? Well that's not good, he might be scared poor boy."

"Yes, how irresponsible of you Storm. Children are innocent and should be treasured and looked after."

"How about we make some cookies? No small boy can resist the smell of cookies!"

* * *

><p><strong>Translations: Nebbia- Mukuro and Kiri - Chrome. Mukuro is Italian and Nebbia is Italian for mist, Chrome is Japanese and Kiri is Japanese for mist. I prefer this rather than calling one mist and the other fog. Lightning is Lambo of course. <strong>

**So who's helping find Tsunayoshi?**

**I'm sorry if there are more mistakes than usual but I'm tired and want to go to sleep. I'll change it later. **

**See you next time**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 27 December 2012**


	66. And Enjoy the Change

Chapter 66:

And Enjoy the Change

"You know, this cake is almost as good as Luce's." Tsunayoshi compliments, staring at the piece in his fingers. However he was sure that no one would be able to make cake that tasted as good as Luce's, it just wasn't possible.

"It's only the best cake for Lambo-san." The teen drawls, before taking another bite.

They both continue to sit inside the rather large pantry (there were alot of people to feed after all), eating cake and talking about food in general. Tsunayoshi hadn't noticed that the door had closed behind him. The pantry had a light bulb, so he had never noticed the loss of light. The door muffled the noises of the people outside, and Tsunayoshi was too busy paying attention to what Big-Lambo was saying. It was rude to not listen when someone was talking to you, according to Luce… and a certain someone's bullets.

* * *

><p>"Well, have you found him yet?" asks Storm, ready to blow the ceiling off the mansion just to find the child.<p>

"He's good at hiding to the Extreme!" reports Sun, which basically meant no.

"Maa maa, don't worry, I'm sure that what the girls have planned out will work. You know how good their cooking smells." Rain explains, patting Storm's shoulder.

Storm has to nod his head to that. The girls' cooking was wonderful, nearly as good as Sky's mother, especially since she had taught them. The three men were getting hungry just thinking about it. But then he remembers who else was possibly in the kitchen and he shivers.

"As long as someone doesn't let Aneki in then everything will be fine. Sky would not be happy if we poisoned Chibi. That's a direct insult and an indirect assassination attempt and I won't allow it. We have to keep Chibi in the exact condition he came in until we are forced to take him home." Storm explains to the other two with a serious expression on his face. The other two nod. Over the years they had all fallen to Scorpion's poison cooking and it was not an experience they would wish on anyone.

"It'll be fine, Scorpion is on a mission anyway," smiles Rain.

Storm looks away, down towards the kitchen. "Actually she's not. She completed it early since she wanted to throw Hitman a party to celebrate some sort of anniversary of theirs, some stupid girly sentimental thing, I don't know. She called earlier and explained that she'd be back at 5."

_Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong._

_Oh please not another one. _

_DING._

The trio look at each other. It was 5 already. She'd be back any moment.

"Ah, Hayato, here to give me a welcome home hug? What a nice brother you are."

Storm's eyes widen as he stands stock still. They just had to be having this conversation infront of the front door didn't they? Storm turns his face away as his sister gives him a hug.

"Welcome back Scorpion." Says Rain, waving.

"Planning an EXTREME party?" roars Sun.

"Oh yes, a party for my darling Hitman. It'll have been fifteen years since we went on our first mission together." She explains, rosy eyed. She hugs her brother tighter at the thought, getting excited already. It was going to be the best party ever.

"Well, I've got to go and prepare a wondrous feast for my love. See you all later." She smiles and waves to the males as she walks down the corridor.

Storm stands there, staring into space and getting over the contact he had just had. Luckily no poison cooking had been involved.

"Hmm, I wonder what she'll make for Hitman? Coffee cake? Amaretto biscuits? Espresso cup-cakes?" wonders Rain, watching her leave.

Leave down the corridor leading to the kitchen.

The kitchen where the girls were making cookies to lure Chibi out with.

"NOOO!" Storm shouts, running down the hallway after his sister. Sun and Rain soon realise what that meant and ran after Storm.

Storm quickly grabs Scorpion's hand and pulls her to a stop. "But Aneki, you can leave that until later. I don't even think Hitmanis at the mansion right now. And anyway, you can't go to the party looking like that. I mean... just look at your hair."

Scorpion takes a lock of hair into her fingers and peers at it. "It could do with a trim."

"And why stop there? You want to look your best for such a _momentous_ occasion. Why not get a facial, and a manicure and a pedicure, and maybe even a massage to get rid of the stress from that latest mission." Storm frantically looks over his sister's shoulder, giving the other two a look ordering them to help him.

"He's right you know." Says Rain, mock gravely. "Do you even have a dress to wear? You want to impress him don't you?" For someone who didn't like anything remotely feminine, Storm sure knew a lot of womanly things Scorpion could be doing.

"And some extreme new shoes that will knock his lights out." Adds in Sun enthusiastically. Hana always wanted shoes.

Scorpion takes a look between the boys and her destination. Storm fears that she's thinking of walking that way anyway. He had to stop her.

"I'll even take you." He shouts, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so. He couldn't believe he'd just said that.

Scorpion's eyes light up and she hugs her little step-brother again. "Oh you will Hayato? How wonderful. I know the perfect place. Let me just grab my purse."

She then grabs Storm's wrist before dragging him off, Storm protesting all the way. She ignores his shouts and rants, not listening to a word of it since she was so happy that her little brother wanted to do something with her.

Storm looks back down the hallway as he's being dragged and gives the pair a look that screamed _help me. _The other two shake their heads before saluting Storm for his bravery in the face of adversity. He scowls, gives them a rather rude hand gesture and is then dragged around a corner.

"Let's check on the girls then." Says Rain brightly, as if he hadn't just watched his fellow Guardian dragged away to his doom. Sun agrees, he was still hungry and hopefully Hana had finished that snack for him.

They walk down the corridor, passing the turning Storm and Scorpion had taken and eventually arrive at the kitchen.

"Should we do chocolate-chip cookies? Little boy's love them." Wonders an orange-blond woman with a mixing bowl under her arm.

"No, it has to be Gingerbread men desu! They smell really good too." Argues another of the women, a brunette, going to a shelf to find the ginger she would need.

"How's it going girls?" asks Rain as he walks in. The three women in the room turn and, seeing who it is, smile.

The brunette, wearing a homemade apron that looked like she was wearing a cookie, stomps over to them, a pout on her face. "We can't decide what to make. Haru thinks it should be Gingerbread Men, but Kyoko thinks it should be Chocolate-chip. Who do you agree with?"

That was a rather dangerous question, one that they were not going to fall into. Luckily there was two of them, so Rain could say one whilst Sun said the other.

"I think you should extremely do both!" Or they could do that.

"Here you go," says the other brunette of the room, waving a plate under Sun's nose before placing it on the table. Sun gives a cheer before sitting down to devour his extremely extreme snack.

By the time Sun has finished his snack, the girls have finished making their biscuits and have placed them in the oven.

"So now what?" asks Sun, fidgeting in his seat since he currently had nothing else to do.

"Now we just sit and wait." Explains his little sister. Sun sighs, he hated waiting.

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi and Lightning are nearly finished with the huge cake, only one piece remains.<p>

"Do you want the last piece?" asks Tsunayoshi. It was Lightning's cake after all, it would be mean to eat the last piece.

Lightning looks at the cake forlornly, as if he really did want to eat it. However he stops himself. "No, I am going to give it to I-pin. She's not very well at the moment so hopefully this gift from Lambo-san should make her happy. I don't give my cake to just anyone after all."

"I-pin's not well?" asks Tsunayoshi, tilting his head. That wasn't good. Although it was interesting to know that I-pin lived with these people in the future. He wondered who else from Mafia Row he'd meet here?

Lightning and Chibi exit the pantry and start walking towards I-pin's room. However, just as Tsunayoshi walks past an open door, he smells something rather delicious. He stops outside of the door and takes in a breath. He keeps on sniffing, following the trail of his nose until he enters the room.

"AHH! They're finally finished. I was getting bored to the EXTREME!" Sun shouts, watching as the treats were pulled out of the oven and placed onto cooling racks.

"Yeah, and they smell great as usual." Agrees Rain, smiling as a plate filled with the sweets was placed onto the table.

"They taste even better than they look." Adds in one more voice.

"Why thank you." Smile the two chefs, turning to where the voice had come from. Sun and Rain do too, only to find a small hand reach up over the table, take a biscuit and disappear. Everyone crouches down to look under the table and finds a little boy with crumbs all around his face.

"Well, Designer, Negotiator, you've certainly lured Chibi out." Congratulates Rain.

The Secretary shivers and looks away disgusted. "Why wold you have trouble finding a monkey like him?" she asks Sun.

"He's extremely good at hide-and-seek. We couldn't find him anywhere and we looked everywhere." He defends, looking back up at her.

Tsunayoshi looks up when he realises that the adults are looking at him. He looks towards the two women who had flour on their clothes, the people who must have made these really good biscuits, and vaguely recognised them in the same way he did everyone else here.

"You're Big Haru and Big-Kyoko!" He cheers before running over to hug them. He'd recognise Haru's 'desu' anywhere.

"Haha, seems that the Smiling Saint has struck again. Is there any child that doesn't like you?" Laughs Rain. Negotiator was not only, as her codename suggested, a negotiator (Mafioso had a weakness to beautiful women who knew how to word themselves _very_ carefully) but she was also the Face of the Neo Vongola. She could be seen hosting many charity events and doing a lot of hands on work with children who had been made orphans or sold as slaves in the Mafia.

Tsunayoshi then moves over to hug Big-Haru before standing back and admiring her apron. "Did you make that?" He asks.

Designer stands up proudly before showing off the apron. "Hahi? Of course Haru did, desu. Haru makes lots and lots of cute clothing."

"She's not called the Lady of 1,000 Faces for nothing you know Chibi. She can make herself look like someone totally new. She could walk in and you'd never know it was her." Explains Rain, a broad grin on his face. Designer did have a cool yet dangerous job. She did a lot of recon work for Neo Vongola, infiltrating Mafia Families under different aliases, finding blackmail or creating rumours. She also insisted on making clothes for everyone else too, including their suits.

Chibi looked awed by this, it sounded rather cool. However he was slightly sceptical about Rain's claims. He could tell when even Reborn was in disguise, so he suspected he could always tell when it was Haru too.

"Urgh, who's brat is it anyway? It looks a lot like Sky. You should just sent it back to it's parents to look after." Secretary scoffs, taking a few steps away from the child. It was going to get her suit dirty she was sure.

He recognised all of the others, but not this person… "Who is she? I don't know her."

"Che, that's a good thing. I don't want to know you either." She explains, eyeing him carefully incase he came closer.

"Hana be nice. It's extremely Sky but not Sky." Sun shouted as if that sentence made sense. It did make sense, but only to him and Rain.

"Her codename is Secertary since she is in charge of all the paperwork that Sky doesn't do. She's good with finance and such. However her real name is Hana."

"Hana?" repeats Tsunayoshi, tilting his head as he looks her over. Hmm… Hmmmmm… "No she doesn't live on Mafia Row. I don't know who she is."

Rain nods his head. He should have thought about that. But then again, he didn't know much about this place called Mafia Row. He hadn't been there before. In fact he didn't know much about any of it. Just that Sky had said that someone from an alternate dimension would be able to help them with their problems.

"Another Mafia Brat?" Secretary asks. "Well I'm out of here then." She didn't want to be around children any more than she had to. Plus she had work to be doing. So she stands, grabs a few biscuits and exits the room.

"Oh. Bye bye." Tsunayoshi waves to her back. She doesn't answer back.

"Don't worry about her desu. She just doesn't like children for some reason." Consoles Designer, patting the child's fluffy hair. "How she can hate such a cutie I don't know." She squeals before picking him up in a crushing hug.

"Too tight, too tight." He gasps. He should be used to crushing hugs like these since Luce gave them sometimes, but they still hurt.

"Hahi! Haru is so sorry desu. Haru got excited." She put the child down and straightened out his clothing. "Hahi? You have a tail?" She questions, holding the appendage.

"It's part of the hoodie. Mamma Luce made it for me. It doesn't move though. I wish it did." Tsunayoshi explains before frowning. It would be so cool to have a moving tail. Maybe Verde would make it for him?

Designer had to wonder who 'Mamma Luce' was. She didn't know anyone young enough to be this boy's mother by that name. The only Luce she knew was Princess's Grandmother who was dead.

"Did you want to help me decorate the biscuits?" Asks Negotiator, smiling down sweetly at the boy. Tsunayoshi turns and smiles brightly. That was the best bit, after eating them.

"Sure!" He beams. The girls are taken aback by his smile and have to resist the urge to hug him to death for being so cute.

He runs over to one of the chairs at the table and climbs up on it. Standing up he pulls a cooling rack with the gingerbread men on it closer to him before looking back towards the two girls. "What are we going to decorate them with?" He asks.

The girls run about finding decorations for the gingerbread men and making icing. Tsunayoshi stands there, looking at the gingerbread men and deciding what he should do. Then he had an idea. He grabs one of the bowls the girls had placed infront of him and tips the contents into one of the other bowls. He then takes some icing and pours it into the bowl before grabbing some black food colouring.

The four adults in the room watch as the boy concentrates on doing whatever decorating he was doing. Black was a strange colour for a child to choose, they had been expecting red or something. Tsunayoshi continues on regardless of their watching eyes, tongue stuck out in determination. By the time he pulls away a few moments later, four of the gingerbread men are quite largely covered in black, and all of the others have black shoes. He reaches for another bowl, emptying the contents before mixing a new colour, this time a green. Two of the gingerbread are fully covered in the green whilst another one gets a green shirt and… green hair?

The process continues until finally Tsunayoshi sits back and takes in a deep breath, now finished. Everyone leans over to look at what Chibi had created. There were nine in total, all with faces, clothing and hair.

"Oh these are the Arcobaleno, right?" asks Rain, turning to the boy. The black and orange one was Hitman, the black and purple one was Stuntman with another being Psychic, the bright red one was Martial Artist, the black and green one was Scientist, complete with liquorice glasses. The one dressed in white must be Princess… no, he'd mentioned Luce so it must be her instead. The green pair were the two Rain ex-Arcobaleno. That made up the 8 Arcobaleno. So why was there nine?

"Who is that?" Asks Big-Kyoko, pointing to the last one.

Tsunayoshi looks at them all as if they are silly. Which they must be. How had they not met this man before? He was sure he'd introduce him to all his friends eventually. "Well, that's Bermuda of course." He smiles. Bermuda's gingerbread man was black and white with liquorice hanging from his hands to represent the chains.

The two Neo Vongola Guardians are surprised about this. But now that they thought about it, they remembered Sky saying something about it. He'd had to take a day off to go visit Chibi and make sure that the boy met the Vindice. In their own dimension the Vindice were strong allies, but hard to convince to do anything. In fact if it wasn't for the fact that the traveling of dimension put stress on the Tri-ni-sette they were protecting they most likely wouldn't be involved at all.

"He looks very mysterious desu. Like a dark knight on horseback sneaking away to see the love of his life. Ahh how romantic desu." Designer imagines, hands clasped together under her chin. The boys look at her like she's mad since they know who Bermuda really was. Neither Designer nor Negotiator knew who the Vindice were, and they'd like to keep it that way.

"Yup, Bermuda is everyone's knight, keeping bad people away from all the good people!" Sings Tsunayoshi. That's how he saw it at least. Most people just didn't realise that.

"That's good." Says Big-Kyoko. "Would you like to give them to the Arcobaleno?" she asks. They could spare a few and the boy had tried so hard on them, it was only right that he give them to the people they were meant for. It would be a shame to eat them.

"Can I?" Tsunayoshi asks, eyes widening and shining. Big-Kyoko nods before placing them near the window so that the icing could set properly.

He was sure that the Arcobaleno were going to love them.

It wasn't long after that the girls looked at the clock and realised that they needed to start working on dinner preparations. They didn't cook for the whole of Neo Vongola of course, just their close friends and family. The rest of Neo Vongola ate in a shared cafeteria in a different part of the mansion. There had been a fight between the old Vongola chefs and the pair of girls over who would cook for the prestigious Neo Vongola Primo. The girls had won the fight, mainly because everyone preferred their cooking. However a compromise had been made and some chefs could come in and help with preparations under the girls' watchful eyes.

So the three males were kicked out of the kitchen since they weren't going to help.

Dinner had been a grand affair; Tsunayoshi had never seen so much food in his life. He thought there was a lot of food at home with the ten of them, but this table was even larger. There were just so many people to feed. At their insistence, he had sat between Big-Haru and Big-Kyoko and he let the girls feed him until he felt like he was going to explode.

The atmosphere around the table was quite similar to the one back at home; everyone was laughing, fighting, shouting, talking and making a huge racket. But the fights weren't serious to Tsunayoshi's eyes. Just the fights of a loving mismatched family. It felt right. Somehow it felt like he belonged here, like it was home.

* * *

><p>It was late at night and everything was dark. But Tsunayoshi couldn't get to sleep. The house creaked and groaned in different ways to usual. Animals were making noises outside the window. And most importantly, there was no one else in the bed next to him. He had had the odd sleepover before and he could sleep fine then because someone else was in the same room. But now… there was no one. He didn't even have Natsu with him.<p>

He was alone, in the dark, and he was scared.

Slowly he climbed out of bed, hugging the pillow closer to him before making his way into the hallway. Before he had gone to bed, Big-Hayato had made sure that Tsunayoshi knew the way from his room to Hayato's room and that he should shout if he wanted something. But he didn't want to disturb anyone else.

Storm grumbles when there is a knock at his door. Which idiot was it this time? He harshly swings the door open, ready to shout at the person who had interrupted his sleep. However it looks like no one is there, until he feels a pull at his pyjama leg. He looks down to find a tearful Chibi hugging a pillow.

"Oh, Chibi, is everything alright?" He asks, kneeling down. Chibi nods before looking away and swinging his foot against the carpet. Storm waits a few moments to see if Chibi would say anything, but he doesn't. "Well?"

Chibi looks up at him, very close to tears. "I can't get to sleep. Usually I sleep with one of the Arcobaleno, and I usually have Natsu with me too. But I don't have either of them." He sniffs. "And…" He looks away once again. "I'm scared of the dark. I wanted you to help me like last time I was in the dark all alone."

The Mysterious Man in the Cell who had brought light and comfort into his pitch black prison.

Chibi looks up, "Please?" He asks as tears start to fall. What if Big-Hayato said no?

Storm had sighed at first. He didn't know that Chibi slept like that or else he would have given the boy to one of the girls to look after. And he was about to –despite the late hour- until Chibi had said the last few sentences. He remembered what Chibi was talking about, it had only been a few days since then, plus it wasn't the kind of meeting one forgot. Now that Chibi was crying, his 'Juudaime senses' kicked in and he was suddenly in a panic.

"Please don't cry Chibi! Of course you can come in here. You can stay with me and I'll leave a light on or something. Just please stop crying." He'd do anything to get that expression off of a face that looked so much like Juudaime's.

Chibi sniffs up his tears and hugs the pillow tighter once more. "Really?" Storm nods his head rapidly before taking a step backwards to let Chibi in. If this was anyone else, they'd be kicked out immediately, but he couldn't say no to Chibi. Looking after children wasn't his thing either, but this boy rarely acted his age- He seemed so much older that Storm really didn't mind his presence.

Slowly Chibi walks in, and over to the bed. He looks back towards Big-Hayato for permission before being encouraged onto the bed and under the covers. True to his word, Big-Hayato left a lamp on over the other side of the room so that Chibi wouldn't be scared any more.

"Thank you Hayato." Chibi whispers before falling to sleep.

* * *

><p>Chibi slept well after that, right the way through until morning.<p>

Right until the loudest exclamation he had ever heard sounded.

_"VVVVVVVVRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Translations: Negotiator Smiling Saint- Kyoko. Designer/ Lady of 1,000 Faces- Haru. Scorpion- Bianchi. Secretary- Hana. Their names took me forever I swear. **

**Since it will be New Year by the time I next see you all, ****I want to wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope everyone faced the past year with their dying will? And let's face the New Year with Deathperation too!**

**Happy New Year from everyone at Mafia Row!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 30 December 2012**


	67. Before Things Return

Chapter 67:

Before Things Return

Sorry for the lateness but my computer died twice last night so I gave up.

Guys I have another piece of awesome fan-art to show you all! I swear you're all too good to me. This was created by the wonderful **Chibi-Onee-Chan** and is a picture of Storm and Chibi asleep in bed, inspired by the ending of the last chapter. This is the link for it and I hope you all love it as much as I did:

kuchiki-torii . deviantart art/ KHR- Bedtime- 346118625 (Remove the spaces as normal)

Thanks to **ninetailsgirl94** for coming up with Squalo's Code Name and to **Erephen** for creating the rest of the Code Names for me. I hope I do them justice Auntie!

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi had had a rather good night sleep considering the circumstances. Although he was amazed to find out that Storm actually slept with his dynamites still on. How he managed to do this, Tsunayoshi wasn't sure. So there he was, sleeping away, minding his own business, only to be awoken by the loudest shout he had ever heard.<p>

"_VVVVVVRRRRRROOOOOOIIIII!"_

Tsunayoshi rolls over before hiding his head under Storm's arm, hoping to block out the noise. Back at home, he may be able to sleep through the noises of bullets and metal clashing and the thumping of bodies against walls, but he could not, however, sleep through the sound of one of Squalo's roars.

"Hnh, why is Big Bro Squalo here?" He mumbles, throwing the covers over his head too. He had been having a rather good dream before being woken up.

Storm's eyes snap open at the roar and he nearly lunged out of bed if it wasn't for Chibi holding his arm. It takes him a few seconds to realise that they weren't under attack, but that the Varia had arrived. Great. Although Storm does notice the strange name the boy gives to Squalo. Big Brother? Oh yes, he remembered Sky saying something about the strange relationship Chibi had with the Varia of his world. It was certainly different from the relationship they had with the Varia here.

Storm growls under his breath. He had rather been enjoying his lie-in. He didn't get lie-in's all that often, so he liked to enjoy them when he could. And he had strangely had a good night's sleep too. He flings the covers off himself before swinging his feet out of bed and into a pair of slippers. He then grabs his lighter, checks that his Vongola Storm Ring is in place before storming out of the room, muttering obscenities.

Tsunayoshi pouts when Storm gets out of bed. He had been enjoying their cuddle- his Hayato didn't hug him all that often. However he perks up again when he remembers that the Varia had arrived. He wondered what the Varia were like in the future?

So he untangled himself from the covers- he had been buried underneath them when Storm had left earlier- and jumps out of bed before running to catch up with Storm. He tried hard not to trip on the large shirt that Storm had given him to sleep in. He nearly trips on the stairs but manages to catch himself before he could tumble down them. Even though he had lost sight of Storm, it was easy to tell where Tsunayoshi needed to go. All he had to do was follow the banging sound of doors being slammed open. He eventually catches up to Storm when he enters what seems to be a living room. Storm is in the middle of the room, trying to shout at everyone at once as well as waving a stick of dynamite at everyone too.

"Vrroooii! Heeheehee." Tsunayoshi shouts as he runs over towards Squalo, trying to see if he could get a hug. It was kind of like a game between him and the Varia, a game to see whether Tsunayoshi could hug them before they sent him flying across the room. Tsunayoshi found that he was winning more often these days. He must be getting better. He didn't stop to think that maybe the Varia were going easy on him. He was still thrown across the room 9 times out of 10 though.

"OOII! Who is this brat?" Sharky shouts, waving his sword at the child.

"Haha, I got you Big Bro Squalo!" Tsunayoshi sings happily as he wraps his arms around Squalo's waist, smiling brightly up at him. Well that had been easier than usual.

Sharky swings his sword once again and is amazed when the child jumps backwards and out of the way of the attack. Not only did the brat dodge the attack, but he looked far less scared than he should do and was even smiling, _smiling!, _at Sharky instead as he skipped backwards.

Tsunayoshi barely dodges the attack. He had forgotten that the people in the future moved faster, just like Cloud had done. They were closer to the speed the Arcobaleno moved at when they were trying harder than usual- which in general, actually meant trying at all. He giggles as he escapes and sticks his tongue out at Squalo. The Shark was in the mood to cut that impudent tongue out. He had done worse before now.

Pleased that he had gotten a hug from Big Brother Squalo, Tsunayoshi decides to move on.

Boss doesn't like it when the brat turns his gaze towards him. He hadn't liked the greeting Sharky had gotten either- even if it had been funny to watch. Nor did he like brats in general. All they did was cry and snivel and scream and that wasn't fun to watch at all. So when it seems like he's going to be the brat's newest victim, Boss takes the most obvious course of action: Shooting the damn trash.

Tsunayoshi jumps out of the way, feeling the heat zoom past his face. And it was hotter than usual too. Looks like it was going to be harder to get a hug from Big Brother Xanxus. That was fine though, he liked the challenge. He could hear Storm in the background, shouting his head off. It seemed that Storm got very loud in the future. He looks Xanxus in the eyes (eep, they were scarier than usual!) and puts a determined look in his own before grinning. There was going to be no escape! Although looking at Xanxus, he seemed to look younger than the rest. Tsunayoshi wondered why that was? A _really_ good face cream?

He ducks as yet another blast of Flames comes towards him, courtesy of Xanxus. Tsunayoshi puts on a concentrating face- he WAS going to get a hug from the future Xanxus- before running across the room towards the Varia Boss.

Boss clicks his tongue before firing another shot.

Tsunayoshi sees the new shot coming towards him and takes a step to the side to dodge it. The force of the shot ruffles Tsunayoshi's hair and heats up the air he breaths in as he gasps. However he trips on the large shirt and ends up falling to the floor. Oh no! He was going to end up as 'burnt trash!'. He quickly holds his hands over his head in preparation for the attack. _Reborn! Help me!_

There is a boom and some steam. Tsunayoshi looks up, amazed that he hadn't been attacked at all. Infront of him was this floating bone circle with red tinted glass. He had no clue what is was, how it was hovering nor where it had come from. However he did have to admit that it looked rather cool. But it was amazing how much the future had changed, to be able to make something like this. He wondered whether Verde made it? Nah, of _course_ Verde must have made it. Who else was smart enough?

"How dare you! You don't even know who he is and you attack him! He's a very important person and Sky would not be happy if you killed him!" Storm shouts, a hand splayed out infront of him, holding the bone shield of his Sistema CAI out infront of Chibi, protecting him from the blast.

"Che, like I'm going to let some weak trash jump on me." Boss retorts crossing his legs as he glares back at Storm. Lions were not sat on.

"Why you-" Starts Gokudera before swearing in a language that wasn't Japanese or Italian. Tsunayoshi didn't have a clue what that word was and therefore didn't tell Storm off. But then again, he was busy doing something else.

"A-ha! Got you!" shouts Tsunayoshi as he jumps onto Xanxus's lap. YES! He had done it! Xanxus was always the hardest one to get a hug from. He had army crawled under the floating bone-glass-thing all the way to the chair Xanxus was sitting on. Whilst he and Storm were arguing, he had made his move and pounced. "Good Morning Big Bro Xanxus. What are you doing here today?" Tsunayoshi asks.

Boss had never seen something so fluffy and 'cute' and sweet. It disgusted him. "Get off me scum." He orders, picking the boy up by the back of the shirt before flinging him across the room.

"Mou~ Aren't you just the most adorable thing in existence?" coos Okama, having caught the flying child.

"Big Sis Lussuria!" Tsunayoshi chimes, returning the hug. "What happened to the feathers?" He pouts. Those feathers had made Lussuria look like a bird. He had found them pretty. He takes another glance over to Big Brother Xanxus. He had lost his tail charm and feathers. Had he not liked the birthday gift Tsunayoshi had made for him? No wait, the feathers were still there. So Xanxus _had_ liked his birthday gift. And he still wore it in the future too!

"Oh~ Feathers are _sooo_ 10 years ago. It's got to be fur, and isn't it just the softest thing you have ever felt? Go on touch it!" Okama explained to the child, wiggling his hips- this child was just too cute. Tsunayoshi nodded and stroked the fur that was on the man's collar. WOW! It really was soft.

"Oooi, Drag Queen, be careful. We don't want you to be charged with paedophilia too." Says a voice that Tsunayoshi doesn't recognise. There's no tone to it, just one long note. Strange.

"Ushishishi, at least this one is alive." Comments a voice he does know. He'd know that laugh anywhere!

"Big Bro Bel!" cheers Tsunayoshi. He clambers out of Lussuria's arms and runs over to Belphegor. Once infront of Prince, he bows. "How are you, your Majesty?"

"Ushishishishishi, the Prince likes this Peasant. You may rise." Prince laughs, a pleased wide grin on his face. Tsunayoshi stands back up from his bow. Now Bel… hmm…

"Hehee," Tsunayoshi laughs mischievously. Bel was another hard one to hug because he was so good at getting out of the way just in time. Tsunayoshi runs straight past Belphegor and the weird sounding stranger before climbing onto a chair. Once as high as he could balance, he leaps off the chair, towards Belphegor's back.

Belphegor laughs before taking a step to the side. At the same time he grabs Froggie and pulls him along with him. So instead of landing on Prince, Tsunayoshi lands on a rather springy frog hat.

"Ahh!" He gasps once he realises he's not landed where he had hoped to be. His landing was quite bouncy, as if he had landed on a trampoline. Hehe, his was actually rather fun. He giggles as he keeps on wiggling, causing him to keep bouncing on the hat. Tsunayoshi wondered whether Luce's hat would work? He'd have to try when he got back home.

The rest of the Varia stare on. They had never seen that before. And anyway, just who was this brat that kept jumping on them like they were playground equipment? All Storm had said was that he was someone important to Sky. Which was never a good thing to say to the Varia, Squalo especially, for they still wanted Boss to be the Vongola Juudaime, not Sky. So if Sky liked it, then hey, why not destroy it? What was Sky going to do? Punish them? As if Sky could.

Speaking of Storm, he was either about to die from asphyxiation (because his jaw had dropped and he'd forgotten to breathe) or because he was going to burst a vein (through high levels of panic and stress and panic and worry and did he mention panic?). It was times like these that reminded Storm that this boy was **not** Sky. It reminded him that this child was brought up by the 9 Strongest people in the Mafia, the Arcobaleno. This boy was different (His scientific mind proceeded to call him stupid in as many languages at it knows, of course he was different, that was the point of Alternate Dimensions) yet so similar to Sky. It kind of saddened Storm. Although Storm was happy that at least the boy had retained the best bits of Juudaime, like his smile and endless caring and acceptance of everyone.

"Sempai. Make him stop. My hat is not a pogo stick." The stranger he was bouncing on complained. At least it sounded like a complaint. So he stops bouncing and peers over the hat to get a look at the person underneath.

That upside down peer soon turns into a fall however, when Prince throws some knives at Tsunayoshi instead. The child tumbles to the ground, legs caught up in the large shirt due to his earlier bouncing around.

"Your aim sucks fallen Prince Sempai." Says the hat owner as he pulls some of the knives out of his hat. Taking one in his hand, he bends it in half before dropping it to the floor. Tsunayoshi gasps over seeing the bent knife. How could the frog hatted man destroy such beautiful knives?

"Hey! You… shouldn't… do that… to Big… Brother Bel's… knives!" He admonishes, whilst also trying to dodge the hail of knives Prince was throwing. He rolls out of the way before untangling his feet from the shirt- although it was made easier when one of the knives creates a slash in the shirt. Storm protests against the damage to his shirt, earning a knife attack too. With his legs now free, Tsunayoshi runs and grabs a sofa cushion, using it as a shield for a moment before continuing to run around the room.

Well, run around the room laughing his head off in glee that is. He loved these chases! (Once again, Storm wonders what the HELL the Arcobaleno have done to a version of his precious Juudaime.)

"Um, Belphegor, are you going to stop any time soon? I'm getting tired and you usually don't throw this many at me." Tsunayoshi wonders, ducking behind Boss's chair to catch a breath.

The rest of the Varia haven't remained silent during this exchange, they are all cheering Prince on, encouraging Prince to hit the damn pesky brat. Although every now and again, Okama cheers Chibi on too because he's just too irresistible not to. But the strange thing is, and they have all noticed it, is that this child has been dodging all of the knives. Sure the shirt and sofa cushion were in tatters, but there wasn't a mark on the boy himself. Of course, Prince wasn't really trying, none of them had made an effort to hurt the child, even if it was annoying.

And that fact made the boy interesting. Just barely.

"Would someone shut the little flea up? His laugh is almost as annoying as Sempai's." asks the frog hatted stranger.

Chibi runs to be behind Storm's legs, before peeking out of them towards the person who had just spoken. "Hayato, who is that? I don't know him."

Storm had moved the Bone Shield of his Sistema CAI to defend themselves from the knives, so Prince gave up, not finding it enjoyable anymore.

"You are addressing the Prince's Froggie!" Prince explains, pointing a knife in the direction of said frog.

"Chibi, you haven't met him yet. When err… Mammon, stopped working for the Varia, he was her replacement." Storm explains, calling Illusionist Mammon for Chibi's sake.

"That is why the Prince decreed that the Frog shall wear the hat, so he always knows he is Mammon's replacement." Tsunayoshi looked at the hat again, and supposed that it kind of looked like Fantasma… okay, not really, but at least he now knew why it was a frog.

"Can you get the trash out of here? I'm here to discuss work, not play with a brat." Boss growls out, finally getting bored. The chase had been interesting, but he wasn't here to introduce himself to some random kid.

"Don't worry Bossu! I shall do it." Volunteers Stalker- yes the Varia had named him that and there was nothing he could do about it. It was his fault for following Xanxus so much. Even Storm didn't go to the extremes Levi did.

Stalker steps forwards, and was about to release his Levi Volta, when he remembered how little room there was in here. Certainly not enough room to make sure he didn't harm Boss in the attack- the others could get electrocuted. So instead he just grabs one of them and holds it ready to beat the child with. The child should have been punished earlier on for daring to sit on Boss.

"Mou, really Levi-dear? But he's only a child." Pouts Okama, a hand to his mouth in 'shock'

"I don't care. Man, woman or child, I'll kill them all!" He replies, giving Okama a look. No matter who Boss asked him to kill, he'd do it, quickly and efficiently.

Tsunayoshi thought quickly for some way out of this attack. He didn't want Storm to get hurt either. Umm, umm, what to do, what to do…

Ah, that would do.

_Super-Surprise-Attack!_

Before Big Brother Levi could attack him or Storm, Chibi ran out from behind Storm and did the last thing Levi would expect. Ran straight towards him, ducked under the umbrella and hugged him.

"Got you too Big Bro Levi!" Tsunayoshi sings happily. He quickly has to dodge the umbrella that comes in his direction, but at least he had accomplished his aim.

* * *

><p>Suddenly, Tsunayoshi is picked up and swung in the air. He squirms in the grip but it doesn't let go, so he looks up to see who had hold of him.<p>

"Ahh, Squalo, put me down!" He protests. He hadn't finished playing yet!

"Oh I'll put you down alright!" Sharky growls, walking towards the door.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Shouts Storm, watching carefully.

Sharky flings open the door and throws Chibi out of it. "Vrrooii! And stay out Brat!" He shouts before slamming the door closed.

Oh, that wasn't very nice. He stands back up, stomps his foot and sticks his tongue out at the door. He tries to hold back the tears from his harsh landing, but he had been rather forcefully chucked.

"Meow~"

Huh, where had that some from?

He turns around before seeing something strange.

Who had taken the Uri plushie out of Hayato's room and placed it in the middle of the hallway of all places?

* * *

><p><strong>There we go. A little bit random this chapter, but I didn't want it to be a repeat of the first time Tsunayoshi meets his own Varia. <strong>

**T****ranslations, courtesy of Erephen and ninetailsgirl94: "Prince" for Bel, "Okama" for Lussuria, "Stalker" for Levi, "Froggie" for Fran, "Sharky" for Squalo, and "Boss" for Xanxus**

**In case you're wondering, I use Big Brother instead of –nii since Tsunayoshi speaks Italian rather than Japanese. **

**See you on Sunday!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 04 December 2012**


	68. To Normal

Chapter 68:

To Normal.

**I'm warning you, this chapter is weird and the second half is crack-ish. This may be the effects of Laptop Radiation XD. Or I'm just tired and in a silly mood, take your pick. But hey, this chapter would be boring otherwise.**

* * *

><p>"Uri?" Tsunayoshi says, taking a good look at the toy down the end of the hall way. Yes, it was Uri, he confirms as he walks closer and closer. And the plushie was in amazingly good condition too for being so old. Actually that made him think- just how far into the future was he anyway? But nevertheless, he could imagine that Hayato would take good care of it. Hayato was always so excited whenever he came around, treating Tsunayoshi like a king or an angel or something. He seemed so reverent whenever Tsunayoshi gave him anything, so it wasn't really a surprise that Hayato would take good care of the present that represented their friendship.<p>

So that really made him wonder what it was doing sitting in the middle of the hallway? Whoever had placed it there was being a meanie, allowing something so important to possibly get damaged. They should return it to Big-Hayato's room immediately. In fact, Tsunayoshi would do it himself. It wasn't like he had anything else to do anyway.

But it seems that someone else gets there before him.

First of all thick gloved hands reach down, clicking a red collar and a leash around Uri's neck. He couldn't tell who it was since they were wearing an industrial face mask and overalls.

"There you are Uri. I've been looking everywhere for you." Says a voice, sounding deep and raspy, distorted due to the mask. "Come along now."

Uri stays where she is- of course she would, she's a stuffed animal after all. So this… person, whoever they were, yanks on the leash and drags Uri away. Well that wasn't any way to treat Uri! She was valuable to both him and Hayato. She would get dirty and possibly ripped, being dragged like that. He had to stop them!

Tsunayoshi runs up to the corner, ready to shout at the bad person, but finds them already turning the next corner. Uri was now on her side, paws to the floor, being dragged head first due to the collar. Tsunayoshi didn't think he'd be heard if he shouted, so he continued to run after the bad bad person.

He didn't stop to think why this person hadn't just picked Uri up instead. He didn't notice because he too talked to his stuffed lion, Natsu, and treated it like a real cat sometimes. He assumed that adults did that too- some of the Arcobaleno pretended Natsu was real too at times. To the mind of the child, placing a collar on a cat was a natural thing to do.

As Tsunayoshi gets around the next corner, he finds that the person is having a hard time dragging Uri. He was pulling with both hands, as if Uri didn't want to come along. If Uri was anything like Hayato, then maybe Uri really didn't want to go anywhere. The plushie bandit pushes open a door and pulls Uri inside. Tsunayoshi gasps, since that wasn't Big-Hayato's room, and quickly runs down the corridor and gets to the door. He wondered what was going to be inside…

* * *

><p>The trip to this room wasn't pleasant for Uri either. She had only wanted to keep an eye on Chibi. Vongola Box weapons, with their special upgrade, were of course reflections of their owner's hearts, so both familiar and master cared for Chibi. So when she had seen Chibi nearly start to cry due to his violent expulsion from the room, she had meowed to cheer him up. But before she could move and go comfort him, someone- and she knew damn well who it was, very few people wore those clothes- had come along and shackled her. She hated being tied up like that.<p>

But before she could show her distain, she was pulled and dragged along the floor. She dug her claws into the floor, trying not to be taken to that horrible room. She did stop for a moment, before another harsh tug caused her to fall onto her side. Her claws remained in the floor, creating tracks as she was dragged. But she was powerless at the moment without Flames from her Master, so there was nothing she could do to stop herself being dragged into the room she hated.

The 'bandit' had very good reason for going the lengths he was going to retrieve the Box Weapon. Uri had a tendency to scratch at people she didn't like, or didn't want to be with. Usually, the 'bandit' was okay; she saved most of her 'love' for Storm. But there was a special event happening today, one which she didn't like, and therefore, for today, he was an enemy. And since he didn't want his arms or face scratched off, he had worn a lot of protective gear. Holding Uri in his hands would only mean she was closer and could attack him more easily. That was why a collar and leash was used, to maintain a reasonable distance. Plus, she could jump out of his arms but it was harder for her to escape this special collar. Without Storm's consent there was no way she was disintegrating this collar and leash.

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi had to be careful. This was the villain's evil lair he was about to enter. Who knows what monstrosities were hiding inside? But he had to save Uri from the bandit. He puts his back against the wall and holds his hands, clasped with his pointer fingers extended in the shape of a gun, next to his face. He looks both left and right down the hallway, checking for the villain's minions.<p>

Singing the usual spy theme tune in his head, he prepares himself to open the door.

_~Dun dun dun-dun, do do-dooo, do do-dooo, da-dun~._

At the critical beat of the song, Tsunayoshi grabs the handle and slowly opens the door. He'd seen Reborn on missions enough to have an idea about how to approach this. First his hands with his 'gun' round the corner of the open door, before he then pokes his head inside.

"For heaven's sake, Uri. You're just like Storm, can't sit still for 5 minutes for an examination." That was the first voice he'd heard, that of the Catnapper.

"Just a system scan and anti-virus check." Says a different voice. Oh there was an accomplice?

"Storm won't be happy to know that you've been troublesome you know." But suddenly the voice sounds different. Hmm, the mask must have been taken off. "Sky wouldn't be happy either. He's still worried about Storm due to how close he came to his time limit, we don't know whether that's going to affect you, so we need to check you over more than any of the others."

What were they going to do to Uri?! He had to save her quick. He fully steps into the room, being careful not to shut the door behind him so he could make a quick exit. There is a happy bark from his left. He cringes, now the bandit would know he was here.

Indeed, the two men turn around from the metal table they were looking at- how suspicious!- and stare at him. The 'bandit' was a red head, whilst his accomplice was blond. When they look at him their eyes widen. Ha, they must be surprised that they had been found out! Naughty villains were always defeated, they should know that. The blond one fiddles with the lollipop stick in his mouth. Maybe he was nervous? Well, they should be. He'd go and tell Storm about what they had done to Uri and he wouldn't be very happy, so he'd give them a good telling off. Big-Hayato seemed very loud in the future, so Tsunayoshi reckoned he would be good at giving telling's offs.

Wait a second… Blond. Lollipops. He knew who this was! This wasn't an evil minion accomplice, it was-

"Spanner!" Tsunayoshi sings, running up to hug the future mechanic. Spanner's lollipops were always the best! "So that makes you Shoichi." He deduces, turning to the other person. These two were nearly always inseparable, almost like brothers.

"C-c-chibi?" stutters Strategist (No longer an evil mastermind of any kind). His eyes move between the boy and the box weapon. Uh-oh, big problem. This was not good. He places a hand against his stomach. "What are you doing here? Weren't you with Storm?" He asks, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder to keep him facing Roboticist and the wall. If Chibi looked behind him it wouldn't be good.

"Hayato is with the Varia. They were having some kind of meeting so they chucked me out." Tsunayoshi pouts, crossing his arms as he did so.

"So your clothes," Roboticist states, waving a hand at the ruined shirt Chibi was wearing. If he'd met the Varia then just having a tattered shirt was amazing. He walks off into the sleeping quarters of their garage and finds a new shirt for the boy. He might catch a cold in those cloths and they didn't want that to happen.

Tsunayoshi thanks Big-Spanner for the shirt before answering the rest of Big-Shoichi's question. "I saw Uri and wondered what she was doing here. When I was about to pick her up and return her to Hayato's room, you came along and grabbed her." Tsunayoshi looked at the metal table infront of him. He took a few steps forwards so he could properly look over it. He wanted to check that Uri was still clean and not ripper from her travel across the floor. Hayato would be mad if she was damaged.

"Uri are you okay?" He asks, knowing full well he wasn't going to get an answer, but that's just what little children did.

The cat meows.

The cat nods.

The cat walks.

The cat licks him.

THE CAT MOVED!

Tsunayoshi's eyes widen dramatically at what he was seeing. Last time he checked Uri couldn't move. He hadn't seen a stuffed animal move since… the first time he had met the pair actually. So this must be the same!

"You put metal and gears and a voice inside Uri? You made her move like that teddy bear? That's so cool!" He squeals, getting excited. A moving plushie sounded awesome!

The pair of mechanics look at each other, first in horror. Due to the large time differences between their world and the world of Mafia Row, Box Weapons hadn't been invented yet. Scientist wouldn't have even started work on them yet. They didn't want to change the future of Chibi's world by telling him the truth of what these animals really were.

However, a spark of relief enters their eyes when the boy continues to scream in enthusiasm. Metal, gears and a voice sounded like a basic robot. Lots of toys these days were made in that way. But it was the perfect cover story. Uri was now a cat-robot, a catbot, an UriBot.

"You like it?" Roboticist asks.

Tsunayoshi turns around and beams up at Roboticist. "I love it! I sometimes wish that Natsu would act like a real cat. I didn't know you could really make it though!" He had to tell Verde about this when he got home.

The happy bark from earlier sounds again, before something heavy lands on both of his shoulders. Tsunayoshi slowly turns his head to see what it was.

"Ahh! Jirou!" Tsunayoshi says in surprise. He gets a lick from the happy dog before the animal finally goes back onto all fours. Tsunayoshi gives the moving dog plushie a pat on the head. But wow, Spanner and Shoichi did an amazing job. It was hard to tell that they weren't really real. He looks up when he hears more animal sounds to find lots more animals in the room. There was all the plushies he had given his friends, Mukurowl and Kojirou and even Roll.

The hedgehog comes up and sniffs Tsunayoshi curiously. It must like his smell because it then rubs it's cheek gently against Tsunayoshi's leg.

"_It's like Sky, but not Sky." Roll explains. _

_There is a collective head tilt from the others. _

_Jirou gives Tsunayoshi a sniff too. "He's right. Plus isn't Sky taller?"_

_Kangaryuu and Gyuudon nod their heads. Sky was taller than them these days, and this Sky was certainly not taller than them. _

"_Haha, but who cares? He's easier to jump on this way!" laughs Jirou, once again jumping up to put his paws on Tsunayoshi's shoulders. This causes the child to giggle. _

"_The Flame wavelength is different too. This one is untapped and tiny. We all know that Sky's Flame is huge and under control." States Mukurowl, flying over to sit on the metal table just above Tsunayoshi. _

"_The way my Master explains it, it's a baby Sky." Uri explains._

"_Moo, just like my Master when we first met." Adds in Gyuudon. The child was around the same size. _

_Uri nods before turning back to Jirou. "Now back off. I had him first." She hisses, swiping a paw at the dog. How dare he slobber over Chibi like that! Since she was busy attacking the dog, she doesn't notice Kojirou go and sit in Tsunayoshi's hair. _

"_Extreme fight!" shouts Kangaryuu, punching infront of him with his boxing gloves. These two were always getting into fights and they were awesome to watch. They went at it like, well, cats and dogs. Roll sighs before moving out of the way and sitting next to Tsunayoshi. It wasn't as brave as his Master unless provoked, so he didn't want to interrupt their fight. _

_Jirou gets down and looks at Uri before crouching down and jumping from spot to spot. "Huunn, why can't I play with him? It's not fair. There aren't any rules saying I can you know." He whines. _

"Hey now. Uri stop fighting. We need you for your check up." Strategist chides, picking the cat up using the rather thick gardening gloves- scratch proof of course. Uri squirms and tried to claw out in protest, but ends up only swiping at thin air. She yowls out, but the others do nothing to help her. They were all here for a check-up anyway, so she wasn't getting out of it.

This was yearly maintenance done on the Vongola Box Weapons to make sure that they were in top condition and that their programming was still working accordingly.

There is the sound of light tapping against the floor. Suddenly Gyuudon skitters and runs to be behind the metal examination table as far away from the threat as possible. Roll fluffs out it's spikes as Mukurowl flaps his wings threateningly. For coming across the room was a very dangerous Liger. Kangaryuu steps to be in the way, defending the boy; His Sparing Partner liked the child and the Box Animal wanted to spar against the child too, he apparently had some Extreme moves. The Liger raises a lip and growls in distain before walking on past the Kyangaroo.

Bester- also here for a check-up- pads all the way to Tsunayoshi before taking the back of the child's collar into it's mouth and picking the child up. Kojirou flaps his wings and quickly flies off since it's perch was no longer available.

Strategist and Roboticist only half take notice since they are busy trying to examine Uri whilst dodging flying paws and fangs. And well, Bester belonged to the Varia Boss- they weren't going to interfere unless they wanted their garage burned down or Chibi was in danger. He seemed fine at the moment.

At first, Tsunayoshi doesn't have a clue as to who these plushie-robots belong to. However, as he's picked up, an image flashes across his mind, his intuition providing the answer. This one was called Bester and belonged to Xanxus.

_The Box Animals growl or glare at Bester as the liger takes the child away. Bester just gives an apathetic look back- which was scary in it's own right. "My Partner was interested in him earlier. We're looking after him." He explains around the mouthful of shirt he had. _

_He walks back over to their side of the room, the side with the cushions, carpets and a warm radiator. They were going to stay in comfort whilst here._

Tsunayoshi wonders where this lion with stripes was going to do with him. It was so big and really scary.

"Umm… Please Mr Lion. D-don't e-eat m-m-m-m-me. I-I-I don't taste very g-good. I-If you're mad that I-I j-jumped on X-Xanxus then I'll a-apologise." Tsunayoshi stutters. He didn't want to be eaten. He was too young to be eater. He still had so much to do! He wouldn't even get to say goodbye. The Lion with stripes was so big it would eat him in one gulp.

Tsunayoshi is surprised when he's dropped onto the middle of the carpet instead. He looks around and finds a few other animals around too. And then there was a small Box siting there too. He decided that he didn't want to touch that box.

"_Ushishishi! The one who tried to jump on my Master eh?" giggles Mink as he runs up and scurries around Tsunayoshi. He quickly runs up the boy's arm and slinks around the boy's shoulders. He leans up and bites the child's ear, drawing blood. But before he knows it, Mink is pinned down on the floor on his back, and no matter how hard he wiggles he can't get free. Nor can he bite those holding hands. _

_The others laugh at him. Pinned down by a child. Pathetic. _

"_Vrrooii! Now we know why our Partners were interested in him. How does it feel down there Mink?" The Shark laughs. _

"_Ka-ching! Why don't you attack him and try for yourself. Unless you're scared of a child a quarter of your size?" Mink bites back, hissing at the shark. _

_The peacock walks over and opens it's tail feathers, giving off a quick burst of Sun Flames to heal the bite. The child doesn't notice the Flames, but he does notice the pretty colours and openly gapes at the display. His grip on Mink lessens and he escapes. _

"_I'm not fixing you if you attack this cutie~" Explains the peacock, turning this way and that to give the child an excellent view of the way his feathers shimmered. _

"_I don't care what you do with him. Just keep him over this side. We can laugh at those pathetic glares of jealousy from the others." Bester growls, nodding towards the Vongola Box Weapons that were still watching. _

"_What an excellent idea!" agrees the Electric Ray, flapping it's wings. Bester puts a paw on the nearest wing, digging claws in to make the ray stop. All that fanning was moving the warm air from the radiator. _

"_How much longer is this going to take? I'm bored." Whines Mink, batting the small box around the carpet. _

"_Stop whining brat." Shouts the Shark, swiping at Mink with his finned tail. Mink jumps over the tail before laughing at the shark. "It'll be done when it's done. Just don't cause any trouble or I'll flatten you."_

"_Ushishishi, try that and I'll turn you into Shark Sashimi before you can even finish roaring." Mink replies, grinning madly. _

"_Shut up Trash." Growls Bester. He places one large paw on the child's back and uses it to drag the child closer to him. Bester then lays down, one paw firmly still on the child's back, whilst the rest of him curled up in a comfortable position. "If anyone wakes me up before it's my turn, we'll be having a new statue in the garden." The others nod, some protesting the threat, but all still comply._

_Mink runs over the lying-down child and curls up on the boy's shoulders. "Well then, I shall sleep too. Nothing else to entertain me here." The shark, peacock and ray all follow suit, although the shark remains look out instead of sleeping. _

Tsunayoshi was sure that he was going to be eaten when the lion dragged him closer. But instead it just forced him to the floor before pinning him to the ground and falling asleep. He was going to be a snack when the lion woke up he was sure. Then the mink climbs onto him too, at least it didn't try to eat him this time. Eventually all the animals lie down and fall asleep. Tsunayoshi listens to the sounds of their animalistic breathing and snores and eventually finds himself feeling sleepy too. He had been woken up early this morning by Squalo. He really needed another two or three hours of sleep. And the warmth from the lion with stripes and the very fluffy mink and the radiator made it harder and harder for the small child to keep his eyes open. Only a few… minutes wouldn't…hurt…

* * *

><p>When Uri has finally finished her examination and told the Mechanics exactly what she thought of them, she jumps down from the table and realises that Chibi is missing. When she asks the others where he's gone, they all point to where the other group of animals were. She flicks her tail in distain and annoyance before shouting at the others and asking how they could let it happen. None of them can give her an answer. So instead she wonders across the room, nose in the air, before coming to the sleeping mess of animal limbs. She parades straight in and finds a nice spot next to Chibi's stomach before lying down and going to sleep herself. She had tired herself out with all the scratching and protesting she had done today.<p>

The rest of the Vongola Box Animals look between each other, amazed by Uri's bravery. Carefully, they all wonder across to that side of the room and find positions where they could sleep too. There was nothing like one big group hug.

Strategist and Roboticist sigh and wonder how they were supposed to conduct their check-ups now? They could barely see Chibi right in the middle of it all, but at least he was definitely breathing and alive. In the end the pair resort to poking the Weapon they want until it wakes up. They didn't want to face a whole horde of angry Box Weapons if they woke them all up.

* * *

><p>When Tsunayoshi wakes up, it's to find himself no longer surrounded by fur sadly, but in an armchair instead. He also has a light headache. He looks up when the door opens and smiles when he sees that it's Big-Hayato.<p>

"I brought you your clothes Chibi. Get dressed. It's time to go." He explains, leaving the small pile next to him.

Go? Go where? Tsunayoshi wonders as he gets changed.

Storm leads Chibi through the Neo Vongola Mansion, underground into the room belonging to their multi-dimensional time transporter device. Chibi rubs his head as the headache gets a little worse.

Scientist comes over and wraps a bracelet around Chibi's wrist. Then he looks up at Storm. "Everything is ready." Storm nods before turning to Chibi.

"Chibi, we're going to send you home. There are reasons that mean that you can't stay in the future for very long, so we need to send you back before you get sick."

Oh, that's where he was going.

"Okay then." Tsunayoshi says, looking up at Big-Hayato. "Thank you for a really good day. I had a lot of fun. Tell everyone that I said bye." He gives Big-Hayato one last hug before turning to Verde. "I'm ready."

He wasn't going to cry, for to him, this wasn't a goodbye at all. It was just a see you later. He wasn't really going to leave them. It's too bad that Chibi didn't know he'd also jumped dimensions rather then just jumping into the future.

Scientist nods before starting to press some buttons on a huge computer. Strategist and Roboticist type away on other computers, and all three are talking to each other, reciting numbers and really long words that Tsunayoshi doesn't understand. Then the bracelet on his wrist starts beeping, just like what had happened to Storm before he would leave Tsunayoshi all alone in the dark cell.

"Thank you. Bye bye." He smiles before there is a sudden cloud of baby blue smoke.

Tsunayoshi blinks, and coughs as the smoke envelops him. Luckily it quickly dissipates and he finds himself back on Mafia Row. The Bovino were still shouting, about the same topic even. And there was still that bird in the exact same spot he last saw it, and the clock was still telling the same time. He looks down at his wrist and realises that his bracelet is no longer there.

He must have been brought back to the moment he left from. That meant that no one would miss him. That was good.

So with a smile on his face as he thinks about his adventure in the future, Tsunayoshi skips down Mafia Row towards Hayato's house. He still needed to apologise after all.

* * *

><p>"You can come out now Juudaime. Chibi's gone." Storm says as the smoke clears and no one is standing there. Sky comes out from his hiding place, rubbing away the ends of the headache.<p>

"So did you have fun with him?" Sky asks, with a sly grin on his face as Storm blushes. "Oh, what happened? Tell me." He pleaded. But Storm wouldn't say anything.

He'd have to ask the others then. Someone would tell him. One way or another.

* * *

><p><strong>There we go people. Another arc done. For those who asked why the Arcobaleno weren't in a panic, here's the reason why. I'd planned this ending for this arc from the start, or else there would have been scenes of the Arcobaleno panicking at the start of some chapters. <strong>

**And now we come to our sentence:**

_There are places, and there are times, that are different from what we were expecting. But we'll take it all in stride and enjoy the change, before things return to normal._

**That's kind of deja-vu gone wrong. It kind of summarise Tsunayoshi's feeling about this arc, since people are the same yet different, especially because he doesn't realise those aren't ****His**** people, but totally different people. **

**So I'll see you all for my next arc. I only made one hint towards it this time, so good luck guessing!**

**See you all then!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 06 January 2013**


	69. Life is But a Game

Chapter 69

Life is but a Game

**Here we are guys the brand new arc! I know that there is usually an omake between arcs, however I just couldn't resist fitting the main character with his number. This will be another serious arc, but I wanted this event to happen when Tsunayoshi was still young. Then the next arc will be fluffier. **

**So warnings of an emotionally heavy, yet fluffy chapter.**

* * *

><p>Screaming. That's the most common sound in this place. It's almost continuous. Maybe our Keepers like this sound, maybe it pleasures them. But I won't give them that satisfaction. I will not scream out, no matter what they do to me. We have almost become numb to the sound, we are almost insensitive to the meaning of the sound. Someone else screaming means it's not me, not one of my precious people. That, for the time being, we are safe. When I have had enough of that sound, when I have the strength to- for I must be careful with what little strength I have-, sometimes I block it out, stop it reaching us. But when the door clangs open, the noise enters along with two of our Keepers, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. For now I must save my strength for what is coming up next.<p>

I smile at my dearest as they pull me out of my confinement. "Everything will be fine." I mouth to her. She looks so worried, so fragile in her tattered clothing, gripping the metal bars for all she is worth. But I know she is not as fragile as she seems, she was brought up here too, just like me. Just like an exotic pet in confinement. Under that fragile exterior is a strong girl, one brought up on Estraneo ideals and the ideals created to fight against our confinement. She will be fine for the time being, the other two shall take care of her through what comforting words they can offer.

A deafening bang separates the four of us, the iron metal door closed, and harsh hands push me in the usual direction, as if I don't know where I am supposed to be going. Down the dark corridors as usual, down a set of steps, down another corridor. It all looks the same, a sterile maze of white tiles.

One of my Keepers kicks me since I'm not moving quick enough. I have to grit my teeth against a shouted retort. It will get me nothing, except the possibility of more punches and kicks. It is better to just get up and continue on moving.

I hate it.

I will not let them rule over me. One day the tables will turn, one day they shall regret their actions. Their ambition and greed shall backfire. I will make sure of it. This place is a den of selfishness where our Keepers do whatever they please, go to any measures to get what they want. This is something I have learnt from them. They have taught me that the world is in the palm of my hand. If I want something then all I have to do is take it. That this is a world where the strong rule and the weak die. The Estraneo will be the strongest Family in the world one day, with everyone bowing at our feet, giving us our every whim. The four of us are merely soldiers built towards that cause. We are told that if we survive, if we make the Estraneo strong, then we can have all that we desire. At the moment, my greatest desire is to get away from them, away from this confinement and be free in the outside world. In the world outside of those black metal bars.

I can only imagine what the outside looks like. I have forgotten it.

I do not fight their lead, I do as I'm told, whilst gritting my teeth to stop myself lashing out. There is no need to lash out, I have to tell myself, for these fools are helping me. I just need to work through this unbearable treatment and think about the future instead. They think that I am a good little experiment, that I see their vision and have embraced it. That I am willing to be a sacrifice for the good of the Family.

They are wrong.

I walk into the operating theatre with my head held high, defiance in my eyes, for this is the most I can get away with. I need my energy to survive, I can't afford to waste energy on healing wounds. I look around me and notice that Tsunayoshi's Guardian Verde isn't here. He wasn't always, sometimes the Estraneo went on ahead without him. But at least since he had officially taken over, well over a year ago now, these experiments had been going better. Results were beginning to show and the four of us were in less pain. But he wasn't here… this is going to hurt, I know it. But like a good experiment, I sit, lay back, and brace myself for the hell to come.

* * *

><p>"Cheer up, byon!" shouts Ken, stretching as he walks out of his cell. "You know it's all going to be fine. He said it's going to be fine so it will. You've just got to trust him!" Ken nods to himself, forcing himself to believe his own words. Ken had always been an optimist, you had to be to beat the oppressive atmosphere in this place.<p>

Chrome nods too, believing in Ken's words. Mukuro had always come back, every single time. Always. So he would this time too. But the fear was always there, the fear that one day he might not come back. There had been some times that Mukuro nearly hadn't come back, especially before the nice green haired Science Man started looking after them. There had been times where Mukuro would come back unconscious and remain so for days, tossing and turning as if in a nightmare. Those times were the worst. It was horrible to see him like that, it scared all of them down to the core. He had done this 5 times so far, over the past year, at least from what she could remember. And each time, after one of these nightmares, he would wake up and smirk at them, a smirk worthy of the Devil himself. The other two would get excited, Ken especially, for they knew what the smirk meant. That Mukuro had learnt another power.

Mukuro would then give her a gentle smile, ruffle her hair and check to see if she was still alright. His illusions were weakened during this time, meaning that she had to provide some of them herself. A few times, during the first and second time this had happened, she had fallen ill, coughing blood as her organs started disappearing. The Estraneo did what they could to keep her alive, until Mukuro was awake to do his job again properly. It was frightening, the feeling of being at death's door once again. It scared her because she didn't want to die. Even living like this was better than being dead. She knew many of the experiments didn't see it this way, but she did. What small child wanted to die?

Chrome looks up at Ken and smiles, because it's hard not to smile at him. He just looks so silly, like a giant lion cuddly toy, especially when his tongue hung out like it was now. He was always there to cheer her up.

Him and Chikusa stand in the middle of the room, out of their cells whilst they could. Ken stands on a few boxes and peeks out of the tiny window. Hmm, seems like no one was watching them. Good. Ken jumps down before reaching into the small bag he carried everywhere with him. These clothes didn't have pockets, so the Estraneo gave him the bag instead. Chrome looks up in interest, wondering which pair he was going to bring out now. She tilts her head when she doesn't recognise the shape of those ones. But as soon as the teeth cartridge goes in, it's easy enough to tell where they were from.

"Monkey channel!" He says. He shivers as the change overtakes him. It gets easier and easier with every transformation, as bone and muscle get used to the idea of shifting and stretching. But even so, Chrome still hears the hiss that leaves his lips as he bends forwards in pain. Chikusa is there immediately, rubbing circles on his back and whispering words of encouragement. Ken grabs the front of Chikusa's shirt, head still bowed towards the floor as he breaths in deeply between his fangs. Ken is careful not to scratch Chikusa with his newly formed claws though.

The first of a new transformation type is always the worst, all three think, knowing from previous experience. Each of Ken's new channels were painful until he got used to them.

Eventually Ken's breathing evens out and he releases the front of Chikusa's shirt. Before Chikusa knows it, Ken's leapt on him and curled his body around him, feet resting on one hip whilst Ken leans over the other shoulder.

"Ooo-aaa-aa-a, this is great byon! Hehe, can't catch me Kakki-pii!" He laughs, his feet and hands dodging Chikusa's as the boy tried to chuck Ken off. Ken keeps on laughing, with the occasional monkey-ish shriek added in absently. Before Chikusa can get too mad, Ken jumps off him and swings around their small room.

Chrome and Chikusa wince when he falls off the top of a pile of boxes, still not used to this new form. But as always, Ken just laughs it off, gets back up again and continues where he left off. He climbs back up the boxes before taking a flying leap towards the bars. "EEE-eee-EEEKK!" He smacks face first into them, far too dazed to try to catch the bars as he slides back down to earth.

He blinks blearily, staring up at the ceiling, stars dancing in his eyes.

"O-ooh-a-ah?" he mumbles, animal talk coming out naturally in his confused state, especially since the Chanel was still inserted in his jaw. An apathetic yet surely concerned face appears in his vision, looking down at him. If it was anyone else, Ken would hate that emotionless face, thinking it was mocking him, but this was Chikusa and he couldn't help it. It was just the repercussions of the Estraneo messing around inside his brain. Ken knew that Chikusa was concerned, especially when that oh so common whispered phrase is said.

"How troublesome."

That makes Ken grins widely, almost wide enough to dislodge the cartridge in his jaw. He stands back up and shakes himself down like the animal he is. He claps Chikusa on the back. He knows that Chikusa was worried since Chikusa didn't dodge his hand. With Chikusa's heightened body reactions, he could have easily dodged it if he wanted to.

For the third time, Ken climbs the dangerous pile of boxes, determined to get it right this time. With this Monkey Chanel he would be as free as a monkey through the trees. Just watch. He jumps again, knowing what to do differently, and latches onto the bars with hands that bend more than usual. His bare feet curl around the bars and he hangs there, suspended for a few moments before a loud whoop leaves his mouth. "Oooh! Eeek! Ooooo-aaa-aa-aaaa! Did you see that! How awesome was I?" He bounces around, leaping from one bar to another, not even caring about the few times he misses and skids down the bars. Like always, he just recovers and continues on leaping and shouting and screeching.

"A-a-haa." The noise is quiet, muffled, but the boys still hear it. Both simultaneously look towards their third member, towards their sister, and notice her curled up, hands to her stomach and knees to her chest. They can't see her face under the layer of dirty purple hair

"M-Mu-ku… Mu-ro… Mu-ku-ro." She stutters, her voice tight.

The pair immediately rush over, Ken jumping down from the bars to land right by her side.

"Chrome! Chrome. Hey Stupid Girl answer me!" Ken shouts, grabbing her shoulders.

"Chrome, are you okay?" Chikusa asks. Sounds like a silly question, with her gasping and wreathing on the floor, but when you live in a scientific experimentation facility, that question has a whole new meaning. It was meant in relation to everything they have been through.

When Chrome reaches out, the pair automatically put their hands in hers. She was a sister in distress, what else were they going to do? She squeezes them tightly, sharing the pain she felt, letting it out of her through them. They didn't mind, this didn't even hurt. Slowly they pull her up into a sitting position. Ken uses his new manoeuvring abilities to reach out and grab the Mukurowl toy and sit it on her lap. She looks up and smiles at them. The pair blink, since her eyes are not their usual shade, but far more purple.

"Chrome?" Chikusa prompts, watching the girl carefully. There is not much that two children can do in this situation. They are not medical professionals, nor scientists. They cannot look after Chrome and make her better in a medical sense. But the four of them are used to having to look after each other with only the minimal amount of help. As long as they stick together, then the children would get through it. Or so they believed. The adults in this place were certainly not to be trusted to help.

It is clear that her smile is forced; there is sweat running down her face whilst she bites her lip. She takes in a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did so.

"Picture it."

"Believe it."

"Force it to be true."

She repeats those three phrases to herself again and again as she moves her hands from where the boys held them to her stomach. She never let go of their hands though. The boys definitely know what's going on now, if the purple eyes hadn't alerted them. They had heard those three phrases to death over a year ago. Those were Mammon's words. They were her way of explaining to a three year old child how illusions worked. At four, Chrome still didn't know how illusions really worked. Words about control and perception were useless to her. But forcing a picture in her head to become reality was easy, simple to understand.

The boys hold her hand tighter, willing her to complete the illusion. They don't say anything in case they disrupt her concentration. Creating her own illusionary organs is hard for her since she doesn't have a clue what they do or how they work. Mukuro, being those few years older, understood the basic functions better. All Chrome could do was fill in the foundation that Mukuro still had going and strengthen it with her own power. It Mukuro's own illusions ever failed completely… if he were to _die_… they she'd most likely die with him. Without another illusionist the Estraneo had no use of her. For she was experiment number 96, the illusion powered half dead soldier. She was living proof that someone could be kept alive through illusionary powers. Proof that Mist Flames could create an army of injured yet fully functioning soldiers.

Slowly her breathing calms down again, the pain leaves her face and she looks back up at the pair with a real half smile on her face. She would be fine for now.

"Is Mukuro alright?" asks Ken. If she was like this, then it meant that something had happened to Mukuro.

"Everything will be fine." She says, repeating Ken's words from earlier. "Again." She whispers. "He's gone to sleep again." The pair nod. They were too young to know the word unconscious, so to them Mukuro was just in a sleep he wouldn't wake up from.

"I wonder what powers he will get this time?" wonders Chikusa, brushing some hair away from Chrome's face.

"I wonder. I bet it's going to be something really really cool! Last time he could call for animals!" Ken cheers. Animals appearing from mid-air that weren't illusions was super super cool! Like magic.

The two boys continue to discuss what new powers Mukuro might end up with as Chrome lays down, using Mukurowl as a pillow. She was tired. Creating illusions was very strenuous for her. She didn't want to do anything but lay here with her two brothers and listen to them argue once again, waiting for Mukuro's return.

For everything was going to be okay. It just had to be.

* * *

><p><strong>I think you might be able to tell why this is going to be a 'heavy' arc, but I hope you'll all find it interesting. <strong>

**See you all next chapter!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 10 January 2013**


	70. Don't let someone else cage you

Chapter 70:

Don't let someone else cage you.

"You really aren't affected by the sight of blood are you?" Verde comments, looking down at the child next to him. Considering that they were surrounded by the stuff, that fact was a good thing.

"No, I'm not. Reborn says that's a good thing though." Tsunayoshi replies, looking up at Verde before smiling. He takes a curious look at what Verde was doing before returning his attention back to the object in his hands.

Reborn would say that was a good thing, what hitman was sickened by the sight of blood? But when Verde thought more about his statement, he realised that he already had more than sufficent evidence to prove his statement correct. Chronologically there were many times when Tsunayoshi had come into contact with blood and not been affected. Firstly was the time when Reborn found Tsunayoshi- according to his statement, the baby had been using it like face paint. From then on would be the sight of blood from whenever one of the Arcobaleno returned home after certain missions. The next major event would be when Verde had protected Tsunayoshi from a rampant robot and injured his shoulder in the process. After that would be times when Bermuda and Reborn first introduced Tsunayoshi to their daily lives, including the killings Tsunayoshi had witnessed. Most recently would be blood from the recent fights against the Spanish Arco Iris.

Tsunayoshi hadn't reacted negatively to any of it; his reactions were skewed towards worry over possible injuries. Verde supposed that early desensitisation could only be a good thing. He looks back at the microscope and at the blood culture he was observing. Hmm, these results were good, but they needed to be better. He removes the slide from under the microscope, places it in a container and labels it correctly. He then turns to the rest of his cure before picking up a new bottle. Maybe using some more of this would increase it's effects?

"_~Hickory Dickory Dock. The mouse ran up the clock~"_

Verde ignores Tsunayoshi, letting the child's mindless singing become nothing more than background noise. He looks at a different culture he had set up earlier. Just like he though, there was no reaction with this one. At least he could cross another useless component off his list.

"_~The clock struck One, the mouse ran down.~"_

"HEEII! Noo! Mr Mousy don't run away. Hey come back here!"

"Tsunayoshi please be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate." Verde mutters, looking at his list of biological components and deciding which one would be best to incorporate next.

"See Mr Mouse, you're stopping Verde from his work. Bad mouse." Tsunayoshi says, chasing the mouse around on the floor. It was just so fast and really really hard to catch.

Verde keeps a small amount of attention on the boy, but the majority of it was on this experiment instead. There was nothing too dangerous around at the moment that the clumsy boy could harm himself on. So instead he circles a few items on his list to try later before moving onto his third culture. Oh, this one looked promising. He removes a sample and places it under the microscope. Yes, these were good results. And it looked like all of the repeat test samples he had done to make sure his work was reliable all showed the same results. This particular solution was ready to be sampled.

Verde walks across the lab to where his test subjects were caged. Don't worry, they weren't human, instead they were mice. Verde was currently working on a cure for a certain disease. No one had attempted to create a cure for it yet, which was why it had attracted Verde's attention. It was a challenge and a puzzle he wanted to solve. That was why there was a lot of blood around the lab at the moment, in bottles or in petri dishes, most of it refrigerated to keep the blood fresh.

Of course Verde had taken the needed precautions. So both himself and Tsunayoshi were fully dressed in biohazard suits, with the correct breathing apparatus, rubber gloves and any other equipment that would keep them safe. Luce had insisted upon it- any protection that was available, they had to wear it. Of course Tsunayoshi followed Verde's every example in the lab, so he wouldn't wear all of the equipment if Verde himself wasn't. So Verde had to wear all of this stuff too, even if the disease wasn't all that bad.

Verde pulls some of the mice out of their confinement and splits them into two groups, one would be the control group, given a placebo drug instead and the others would be taking his latest test cure. If these tests went well, then he could move onto the next stage. It shouldn't be too long before he was ready to try the new cure out on human experiments instead.

_CRASH!_

Verde stops what he was going to do and looks around to find out what had been the cause of that crash. Although there really was only one possible cause: Tsunayoshi. And indeed, there Tsunayoshi was, rubbing his head from where he'd head-butted a table whilst still chasing the errant mouse. Said mouse was one Verde kept especially for Tsunayoshi to play with when the boy had shown an interest in them- they had squeaked when Verde had brought them home and by some rather strange laws of Physics that Verde hadn't figured out yet, Tsunayoshi was immediately there, wanting to know what was going on, what had made the squeak, what they were called, did they all have names, could he pet one and ultimately (finally) why had Verde brought them home? As such, this mouse was kept away from all the others so it didn't become contaminated, even if Tsunayoshi was as protected as scientifically possible.

Verde sighs when a pile of papers and folders falls from the desk Tsunayoshi had just impacted with and onto the floor. Tsunayoshi looks between the mess of papers and the mouse in distress, clearly not knowing which to go after. However, eventually he decides that the mouse is more important and goes off chasing it once again.

"Bad mouse! Stop making Verde's lab dirty!" He tells off, voice distorted due to the mask.

Verde walks across and picks up the papers, taking the time to sort them out and put them back in the correct order. Ah, these were the files on the four Estraneo experiments that Tsunayoshi had taken a liking to. The Estraneo were a rather strange Family. They were known for their strange weapons and rather confrontational manner. They were determined to become larger and better than even the Vongola. It was a tall order, but it was possible. Verde was freelance and worked on what projects interested him, so he had worked on a few of their projects as well. The most recent ones were disturbing to say the least. Especially since the Family had resorted to using their own children as guinea pigs.

Verde had worked on the children in scientific interest, but it wasn't until he'd been there a few times that he started to hate the place. Even someone as apathetic as he knew that live experimental subjects needed to be well looked after or else it could be detrimental to the project. However the Estraneo never seemed to take notice of this, which was most likely why most of their experiments had failed- what a waste of life.

If the Estraneo had wanted any hope of success, then the children should have been treated far better than they were. They should be fed more, given proper exercise and better living conditions. More than anything it was basic human rights. Verde had never really cared for such ethical things, but there were still limits and lines that one should not pass, even he knew that. Or even not considering that, looking after the children properly meant higher success rates. Healthy bodies were more likely to accept the changes and adapt to them than a malnourished one was. If the Estraneo kept on going like they were, they wouldn't have any soldiers to fight for them left at all.

When Verde had gone in to work on the experimental children, he had expected to have a hard time with them due to his rough manner and cold personality. Children didn't like him, he didn't like children, and that was perfectly acceptable to him. But instead, he had somehow become the children's favourite doctor. It had taken him a few visits and a lot of observations of the other doctors to realise this was because he actually took care of them. Verde had thought it was common sense to knock the children out with anaesthetic before conducting the experiments, but the Estraneo never did. He would have thought that overcoming problems from the last experiment before conducting the next was just normal practice, but the Estraneo just kept on progressing with their plans.

To be honest, the ways of the Estraneo disgusted him. If it wasn't for these friends Tsunayoshi had, he doubted that he would have remained there any longer. He hated the ideas that the Estraneo had come up with, hating the reasons behind such misguided creations even more. If the Estraneo had wanted to create a human living on illusions alone for the reason of medical science then he would approve, but not to use said person as an undead soldier. Creating Human-Animal hybrids was an even sillier idea, totally ignoring the theories on evolution. If humans had needed those skills, we would have kept them or evolved to create them.

He couldn't even stand to call the Estraneo Scientists. It was the highest form of insult to be in the same profession as them.

Verde may go to far lengths to complete his experiments and to gather data and research, he may seem like a man without ethics and rules to those of normal society, but he was a Scientist and breaking boundaries was what science did. After all, where would medical science be if those first scientists hadn't broken a taboo and exhumed dead bodies for study? But despite being a scientist, despite being a cold apathetic man who prefers isolation to human contact, he still had limits.

Amazingly Verde, it seemed, had a heart after all.

Especially if you were comparing him to the heartless Estraneo.

He straightens the files on the four Estraneo experiments and places them back down on the table with a resounding thump. Before the mouse that had just ran past could squeak, he had captured it in one fell swoop and placed it back into Tsunayoshi's hands. He would do what the Estraneo couldn't and finish those experiments. He'd show the Estraneo that he was better than them. He'd show them that they were wrong.

And that's was all there was to it.

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 13 January 2013**


	71. Behind Black Metal Bars

Chapter 71

Behind Black Metal Bars.

Like Chrome had known, Mukuro had come back not long after, fast asleep and remained so for days. The nightmares were the worst they had ever heard before. Mukuro seemed to hate them. He always seemed to have a sneer or a look of disgust on his face.

The green haired Science Man came in the next day, took them one by one out of their cells and gave them an examination. Checked the state of their blood, of their anti-bodies and white cell count, of their heart rates, blood pressure, lung capacity, muscle density and lots of other tests. They didn't know what any of the tests were for, they didn't know the meaning of the results Verde mumbles to himself and wrote down. All they cared about was the overall mark of good health at the end of it all.

A few more adjustments had to be made; A few more injections with chemicals to fix unbalances. It was all routine, something the children had done many times before now, after each major attack, er, experiment, the Estraneo did on them. They always felt better after a visit from Verde, they felt more normal, less weird. Mukuro got these check up's too, even whilst he was sleeping yet another day away.

But one day, Mukuro wakes up.

And this time he feels, different. Even Ken, Chikusa and Chrome can feel the difference in him. And it's scary. He felt so much more powerful now.

They hear the sound of booted feet trudging along the corridor, knowing it was their Keepers on their rounds. Mukuro quickly lies down and pretends that he's still asleep. He didn't want to deal with the Estraneo and their experimenting at the moment. The door is opened and one masked face peers in.

"Experiments 96, 69, 49 and 14 all present and accounted for. Experiment 69 is still in a dormant state." The voice reports before closing the door behind themselves.

The four wait for the sounds of their Keepers to fade before moving again.

"You're awake byon!" Ken cheers, standing as close to the bars that separate him and Mukuro as possible.

Mukuro nods, smirking that devil's smile at them. He places a hand over his cursed eye and laughs. "Kufufufufufufuf~."

"How are you feeling Mukuro?" Chikusa asks, sitting next to the bars in-between him and Ken, as close as he could get to the others.

"I am feeling good. Very good." Mukuro admits.

"So! So!" Ken bounces, jumping up and down like a dog with his hands on the bars. "Tell us! Tell us! What cool super power did you get this time?" He begs, eyes wide in anticipation.

Mukuro gives off a disgusted look, so at odds with his smirk from earlier. "I shall call it the Path of Humans. The path of the pathetic and dirty humans that only make the world a bad place to live in. I saw it all. The world outside is no better than the world here." He gestures to the bars around them.

The other three gasp in shock. It couldn't be possible! The world outside of these black metal bars had to be better than this! Nothing could be worse than this!

Mukuro looks at the shocked faces of the other three, frowning in sadness too. "The world outside is a wicked and horrible place. And the Mafia is the worst of them all." He had learnt all this from his dream, from the nightmare of his past life as a human. "People outside of the Mafia are a little better, are nicer." He admits, not willing to give them only bleak news. "The Mafia is where all the rubbish humans end up. All of the evil and bad people end up joining the mafia."

"Tsunayoshi." Chrome mumbles.

The other three look at her before nodding in consideration. That was true, an exception to the rule. Tsunayoshi lives on an island filled with the worst badest mafia men in the world. But Tsunayoshi was a good person. Mukuro agreed that the boy was a good human, one of the minority. His past life had shown very few humans like him.

Speak of the Angel and so he shall appear.

"Errrgh, hmmmmmn, ahhhhn." Came some childish grunts from the doorway. "Why is this door so heeaavvyyy?" He whines. The door is then pushed open quicker and the Angel almost tumbles in. "Ah, thanks Verde!" He sings, beaming brightly at the scientist in the doorway.

"I'll be back for you soon. I need to talk to the Estraneo Boss about something important. And make sure-"

"To always stay exactly here." Tsunayoshi says as Verde finishes his sentence. "Of course I'll stay here. The rest of this place is scary scary like a haunted house." And why would he go anywhere else? His friends were right here. Verde nods and takes a sharp look at the four Estraneo experiments before shutting the door behind him.

"Hello everyone." Tsunayoshi says, turning that bright smile onto them instead.

"Hey it's Tsunayoshi-chan byon!" Ken cheers, running up to the front set of metal bars to see the child better.

"I have a really great story to tell you! I went to the future!" he exclaims, a huge grin on his face. The others look at him strangely, not really believing him. "No, no! It's really true." He pouts at the look the others are giving him. He wasn't telling a lie!

He jumps up on a box and gets the keys to their cells down before opening them all and letting the others out. The first thing Mukuro does is go into Chrome's cell and pick the tired girl up, cuddling her close. "I'm sorry to have left you on your own once again." He whispers. The moment he had woken up he had almost shouted out for her since he couldn't feel her presence. She had nearly run out of her limited supply of Flames to support her illusionary organs with. As soon as he had realised that he had immediately increased his own illusion to take the slack back up again. In the few short minutes since then her colour had gone back to normal and she seemed willing to move. She smiles, telling him in one look that it was okay, the she was okay and that she was relieved that he was fine too.

When Mukuro puts her down she crawls over to Chikusa and curls up in his lap, facing Tsunayoshi and ready for a story. Ken circles a small spot a couple of times before sitting down too, his knees up, looking like a puppy. Mukuro sat opposite Chrome so that he could keep an eye on her. That left Tsunayoshi to sit at the bottom of their circle, opposite Ken.

"I really did go to the future! I was walking past the Bovino house and suddenly 'poof' there was this huuuge cloud of smoke. When it all went away I was inside some strange house." The four had heard about the weird experiments the Bovino did from Tsunayoshi and sometimes from Verde. They knew enough that time was something the Bovino liked to mess with. "And then, and then there's this person there and it's Hayato, but a really big Hayato who was all grown up! I met lots of the others too, like Kyoya and Takeshi and even you and Chrome! Chrome is really really pretty when she grows up!" Tsunayoshi turns another beautiful smile in the girl's direction. She smiles back, happy with the compliment.

Tsunayoshi thinks back to the future Chrome, or Kiri as they had called her. She hadn't liked it when he has spoken about the Estraneo, she seemed really shocked for some reason. Maybe she had bad memories of this place? Looking at Chrome, now, she didn't look too well.

He then turns back to Mukuro. "And it just had to be you since he went Kufufufu~ all the time" Tsunayoshi explains, doing his best impression of Mukuro's chuckle. "And he had the same eye. No one else I know has your eye Mukuro." That was conclusive proof in the child's eye. "And everyone acted the same too. Kyoya even tried to hit me with his tonfa like he does whenever he sees me. But Kyoya is really fast and really strong in the future. He almost hit me lots of times. But I didn't get hit! I was all like zoom zoom pow and was jumping and escaping and he didn't get even one hit on me. Reborn would have been really proud!" Tsunayoshi dramatizes his adventure, jumping around the room and his arms gesturing all over the place.

"Oh Wow! That sounds exciting byon, like an adventure! You're really strong because the Arcobaleno are. Even we know that they are the strongest in the whole wide world!" Ken agrees, nodding his head in satisfaction. The Arcobaleno were so cool!

"You learn a lot from them." Chikusa adds in, watching all the dramatic movements the boy was making. "You should be careful though since the Estraneo want to keep you."

Everyone else turns to look at the branded boy, eyes wide in shock. "I heard it during my last experiment. Since you're Verde-sama's pet and trained by the other Arcobaleno, they think you will be very strong. They want you to be one of their experiments, get stronger and fight for them. However they are too scared of the Arcobaleno to take you." There is silence for a few seconds. This was the first any of them had heard of that.

"After what happened last week they aren't going to take you. Everyone knows what the Arcobaleno did to those naughty people who took you to Spain" Mukuro counters, the others nodding soon after. The Estraneo would be nothing more than a smouldering house if the Arcobaleno went after them. Oh yes, the Arcobaleno were very protective over their little Angel. They would do anything to keep him safe… or to keep him happy. Mukuro smirked at that thought. It was clear from the visits that the Arcobaleno would do almost anything that Tsunayoshi said. He had them wrapped around his little finger and he didn't even know it.

Perfect.

"And Tsunayoshi could kick their asses anyway!" Shouts Ken, punching the air.

"I met the future Arcobaleno too," Tsunayoshi starts, hand to his chin in thought, just like Verde did. "And I could dodge them as well."

"Haha, you can be a superhero when you grow up Tsunayoshi. That would be sooo cool!" Ken dreams, staring into space with a grin on his face.

"And Ken can be your faithful pet sidekick." Mukuro remarks, a sly smirk in place. The others all laugh at the joke whilst Ken pouts and protests.

"Only if Mukuro is the Pineapple in distress!" Ken jokes, sticking his tongue out at Mukuro. He yelps when Mukuro retaliates before running around the room and hiding behind Tsunayoshi. They all laugh at the play fight, enjoying themselves whilst they could.

* * *

><p>Suddenly the door opens, so everyone goes quiet, wondering whether it was Verde or one of the Estraneo instead. However it is none of them. Instead it's Viper.<p>

Mukuro and Chrome perk up, looking towards their teacher. All wondered what she was doing here. Ever since Verde had taken over their experiments, Mammon had stopped teaching them illusions. They needed to save their strength for getting better and withstanding the changes, rather than on illusionary control. Apart from the one time when Tsunayoshi was kidnapped and she asked Mukuro for help, she hadn't been back since.

"Vi-Mammon," Tsunayoshi says, catching himself just in time- he wasn't sure if he'd ever stop doing that. "What are you doing here?" He asks, walking over and immediately grabbing her robe as if to stop her from escaping.

Viper walks to the middle of the room and sits down with the other children.

"Verde called me here to restart your lessons." She explains briefly.

The four Estraneo Experiments look at each other, eyes as wide as possible.

Mukuro is the first to realise what this truly means and starts laughing. The others are soon to follow and start cheering and giving out high-fives.

They were finished. Over with. Done.

No more experiments.

They were complete.

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><p><strong>Phantom Hitman 1412<strong>

**First Published 17 January 2013**


	72. Destroy the Reality

Chapter 72:

Destroy the reality.

**For all those who thought that the Experiments being complete was a good thing (which was the majority)… umm… think again. This arc isn't **_**that**_** short.**

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><p>"Oh wow you guys, that's really good. That means no more ouchie needles right?" Tsunayoshi congratulates. "And no more plasters or bandages, or that bad tasting germ-defence cream." Antiseptic cream didn't taste nice, believe him. He runs over and hugs Chrome tightly. "See Chrome! I told you everything would get better." He lets her go before running over to the open door where Verde and some other of those scary people (luckily without their gasmasks on this time) had just appeared.<p>

He clings tightly to Verde's leg, beaming up at him. "Because Verde is the **best**!" Verde had fixed them just like he promised. Verde had said that he'd make sure his friends didn't die and they didn't! Verde doesn't smile back, or even look happy at the compliment. In fact he didn't seem to be paying Tsunayoshi much attention at all. Instead he just places his hand on top of Tsunayoshi's hair. Viper too doesn't look happy- hard for most people to tell unless you were Tsunayoshi - as she stands up solemnly.

Verde steps into the room and to the side, effectively blocking Tsunayoshi's view of the room. Peering around Verde's legs, Tsunayoshi can tell that something is going on, so decides that staying where he is would be best. The Estraneo members walk into the room and stare down at the four children. Mukuro and the two boys stare back up defiantly whilst pushing Chrome up behind them. She too glares at her Keepers.

"The Boss wants to see them." One man states to Viper. "Your lessons can wait." Viper has no choice but to stand to the side, walking over to stand infront of Tsunayoshi too. This wasn't her territory, she couldn't order them otherwise.

The quartet are harshly pulled in the direction of the door. All four glare back at their Keepers, with their lips tightly shut to stop them retorting back. It would only lead to a beating if they did.

"Hey! You should be nicer to them!" Tsunayoshi shouts, pushing against Verde's legs to try and run over to his friends. "They can- umn!" Tsunayoshi's shouts are halted when Viper places her hand over his mouth. He looks up at her, betrayed. When he looks back at the other four, they smile at his attempt before walking onwards out the door. They liked the fact that Tsunayoshi had defended them, but there was nothing any of them could do. This was just how the Estraneo treated them.

* * *

><p>The trip down the hallway was rather unnerving for the four children. Word had gotten around that they were complete. The corridors and doorways were filled with Estraneo members watching and looking at their finished soldiers. The looks in their eyes were scary, as if the children were a box of gold walking past. There were so many whispers too, far too many for the children to understand what was actually being said. Chikusa kept on walking, doing his best to ignore the greedy adults, but Ken couldn't do the same. Each look and whisper felt like a personal insult. Ken just wanted to put in his lion channel and roar, scaring them all away. He wasn't an object to stare at! His hands clench and unclench at his sides as a low growl escapes his lips. Maybe jumping on one adult wouldn't hurt. A couple of scratches on their perfect face would make them stop- it would be worth the punishment afterwards.<p>

He blinks when a hand pulls on his arm. He looks backwards and finds it's Chrome. She wanted nothing more than to run back to the cell and hide behind her owl plushie, but she knew she couldn't. Mukuro had told her to always seem strong infront of them or else they'd kick her out and she'd be left to die. She didn't want to die, even if she hated the way these people treated her and the others. She could glare back at their Keepers because of the harsh way these mean people were treating her brothers. It just wasn't right. Ken gives a harsh sigh before pulling on her arm bringing her instep with him and away from those watching eyes.

Mukuro walks at the front with his chest out and shoulders back, chin held high. He wasn't going to be scared infront of these people. All he had to do to not be scared was remember how much like fools these people were. They thought that he and the others were going to help and save them, oh how wrong they were. Mukuro had seen more things than anyone else had, he'd seen heaven and hell and the world in-between. These silly people weren't going to scare him.

Eventually they are pushed into a room where there is a big table and lots of posh looking people sat around it. This must be the Boss and his most trusted men then.

"Ah and here they are now. As you can see, the Professor Verde has been keeping them in good health, which apparently helps the body to accept the changes. I couldn't be bothered to argue with him so I let him do as he wished. It seems that this was the right choice, the Professor has done a wonderful job." States a black haired man, the Boss of the Estraneo, with a creepy smile on his face.

A different man steps forwards, this one blond with an acid burn running down his cheek. "The first is Experiment number 14- Ken Joshima. The aim of this experiment was to see if animal genes could be injected into the body in such a way as to transfer the desired animal traits. This has been done through especially encoded teeth, called Channels, which have all the necessary information embedded within them. Further modifications were made to the subject's body to read and accept the code, allowing for multiple transformations. The Experiment had been branded a success and a range of animalistic traits have been encoded ranging from cheetahs to monkeys. All Channels are of mammal species since it was discovered that any other class was incompatible. As such the desired snake transformation was not viable if we wished to retain the multi-transformational property."

Ken crosses his arms and gives the adults a dirty look as they all stare at him. He didn't like being talked about in such a way. The blond flips the page on his clipboard that he was reading from before continuing with the debriefing.

"Next is Experiment number 49- Chikusa Kakimoto. This experiment aimed to make the best assassin, removing any unwanted human traits that caused problems. The majority of emotions have been removed. Feelings are often what causes a mission to go wrong, such as the feeling that the mission is unneeded, immoral or the wrong choice. In addition reflexes have been heightened and the ability to feel pain lowered. All three desirable traits have been obtained."

Chikusa stared back at the adults with an apathetic face. They could stare all they liked, it wasn't going to get them anywhere though. The adults seem to prove, nodding their heads before turning back to the man with the clipboard.

"Experiment 69, Mukuro Rokudo, is the most recent to be completed, finished just a few days ago. The aim of this experiment was for the subject to relive their past lives and to gain relevant skills and knowledge. This was the most dangerous experiment, involving the most work, but it all seems to have gone according to plan. The fact that the Experiment is also an illusionist seems to have helped, the mind is naturally more flexible and creative, meaning the changes were easier to assimilate with. Further lessons by Esper Mammon are needed to cultivate this skill."

Mukuro couldn't wait to restart the illusionist lessons again, it was so much fun to be able to mess with someone else. The adults seemed very interested in Mukuro, all leaning forwards in their seats to get a better look. The number of smiles and pleased expressions grew too. He would be a very useful soldier.

"Finally is our most recent experiment, number 96, Nagi Moriyama. Rather than being an experiment she is more of a test subject or guinea pig. No alterations to her have been made other than those to reduce the damage to her internal organs. The mere fact that she is standing before us after nearly two years is proof of this experiment's success. It is possible for an illusionist to act as a medical squad and reinforce a body to keep it living and moving. Any problems seem to have been caused by changes in Experiment 69's condition rather than incompatibility. Judging by the duration of this experiment it seems that these illusions can be kept up indefinitely. There have been no signs of rejection like in physical transplants."

Chrome wanted to shiver when those eyes went up and down her body, examining every part of her. She hated the way they said her name. No, her old name. Her name was Chrome Dokuro now, a name given to her by Mukuro. Not that she would ever tell the Estraneo that. She never wanted to hear them calling her that. Nagi was the name for her Keepers, for her parents to use, for those who hated her and had never loved her. Only those she wanted to could call her Chrome, like her three brothers, like Tsunayoshi, like Teacher and Science Man. No one else could.

This time a new man stepped forwards, one with long blue hair and dark blue eyes. Mukuro seethed at seeing this man, a man he hated with all his being. His father. Never once had his father checked up on him, never once asked if he was okay or showed any interest in his wellbeing. His father had just tossed him in the room with all the other experiments and left him there. But now Mukuro felt slightly different about him now. Oh he hated the man, but he also imagined going over there and thanking him. If his father had never let him become an experiment then he never would have gained these powers.

"All four experiments will be ready by the end of the week to start their training. At first their overall fitness will need to be improved before we move on to anything of actual use. The girl especially I am concerned about. It may be best if we leave her with only the basics and let her have more lessons with Esper Mammon." The man reports to his boss, not once looking at the children.

"Hmm, no. Train her too. If she does not adapt after 6 weeks, then we shall consider a change." Says the Boss with a wave of his hand. "Now we should discuss the time frame. What needs to be done that the children will be of use?" He speaks to the rest of the adults this time.

"There is a charity event happening in Valencia in three months' time. We were hoping to assassinate the Mayor during that event, so we could make our spy Mayor instead. This would give us more freedom in that area of Spain. They could be used for that. There will be lots of children at this event so they will blend in with the crowd." Explains a red haired female, clicking away on a laptop.

"We also need body guards for the slave trade we're doing in 7 weeks' time. The majority of these slaves will be children or females. They should be able to handle any trouble by then."

"Stealing those documents from the Dante Family. We've tried a few times, but having two illusionists might help."

"There's that eradication of the Chiodo Family too. The other two boys could lead the front line that whilst we send more men as back up."

On and on the suggestions came, but never once were the four consulted. Never once was their opinion asked. The adults continued to talk as if they weren't even in the room. And that annoyed Mukuro. He could feel his rage building as they continued to be treated as nothing more than weapons. He wasn't going to risk his life for people who didn't treat him fairly, no matter the promise of fame and glory afterwards. He wasn't going to let the others risk their lives like that either.

"Hey! You can't send her there to do that by herself!" Mukuro breaks out of his anger when he hears Ken shout out. He had missed whatever comment had caused the outburst, but it must have been bad for Ken to shout out and for even Chikusa to look mad.

A woman with short black hair strides over and slaps Ken around the face, long sharp nails causing scratches. "Shut up lowlife! How dare you defy the Boss's orders. You are in no position to answer back."

Another man walks over and picks Ken up by the back of his shirt. "You should learn some respect." He mutters before taking Ken out of the room. The woman makes a snooty sound before walking back to her seat. A few minutes later, the man and Ken return, Ken now sporting a split eyebrow, a few bruises and what seems to be a sore stomach if the hand held there meant anything.

The Boss looks up, as if finally remembering that they are still in the room. "Take them back to their cells. Let Esper Mammon do her lessons. Tell her that she can restart full time with them."

The four are pushed out of the room and down the corridors, all wondering what their lives from now on will be like. Mukuro smiles; with these new powers, their lives were about to become a whole lot better.

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><p><strong>Phantom Hitman 1412<strong>

**First Published 20 January 2012. **


	73. You Are Forced Into

Chapter 73:

You are Forced into.

**Sorry for being late guys~ I still need to get used to my new university timetable.**

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><p>Two figures walk around the Estraneo as if they belonged there. But they don't.<p>

"I-I can't believe this is what your past was like." Says the first, following behind the second figure. She was determined not to cry.

The second figure continues walking, a sneer on his face the whole time. This place wasn't as he remembered it, doors were in the wrong places, corridors missing totally, but then again this was a house on an island, not an underground lab in the middle of northern Italy. But some things remained the same: the smell of blood that permeated everything; the screams of the experiments; the overall oppressive atmosphere.

The first knew about the second's past, maybe more than anyone else did. But being told a story offhandedly and actually being here- or somewhere very similar- were two totally different things. Her imagination could never come up with something like this. But now she knew first-hand what it was like, she thinks she can understand him a little better now, know the reasoning behind his cynical view of the world and the mafia. She could understand how he and her friends had become like they were.

"I am proud of you." She blinks and looks up, that was not the answer she had expected. She stares at the man before her, wondering what he meant by that. Was he proud that she hadn't cried yet? Because she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. "You have survived better in this environment than I had suspected." Oh, he was talking about the other her.

She shivers when she thinks about the other her. She had thought that her own past had been bad, all alone in that huge house with no love or kindness, but the life this other her was living was much worse. At least here, in this dimension she was loved by Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa right from the start. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to handle being in the Estraneo alone, without them.

"Although I am surprised by your audacity, my dearest Kiri." He says, still walking down the under-lit corridors. His sneer and disgusted expression had turned into a smirk, one that showed he was amused and promised mischief. "To come here and play with things without asking for permission first. You know that our lovely Sky isn't going to be very happy. He is still punishing Storm, even now."

Storm hadn't gotten away with visiting this dimension to look after Chibi. Nor had Hitman. Sky had attempted to 'punish' Hitman too after he had found out that the bullet he had shot was a Dying Will one, but punishing the World's best Hitman and one's tutor is not as easy as it sounds. This attempt had led to one destroyed training room and a very battered and bruised Sky. Sky was in the infirmary for a week afterwards, but he was rather proud of the fedora he had managed to keep ahold of. He wouldn't let go of it all week. And taking the fedora off of Hitman's head counted as a win in Sky's book.

The woman looks down and away. She knows she shouldn't be doing this. But ever since she had been told by Chibi-Bossu where her alternate self was, she couldn't think of anything else.

"It doesn't matter. This can only be a good thing." She replies. "Plus, we have timed this well." She had gone to check up on her alternate self one night, only to find the four of them asleep. Well actually it was only three of them asleep. This world's Mukuro had been awake, mumbling threats and plans to himself. She had overheard it all. And if this Mukuro was anything like her own, then now that they had been classed as complete, it wouldn't be long before he made his move. So it wasn't going to make a lot of difference if they… _helped_ things along.

"Indeed we have. Kufufufu~"

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><p>"Oi you brats, move it along. We don't have all day and Mammon's fees ain't cheap." Shouts the Estraneo member, holding a fist threateningly in the air. These experiments were now dangerous, they had to be kept under control.<p>

It takes both Chikusa and Mukuro to hold Ken back from attacking the man, even if both of them were mad as well.

"Don't waste your energy on that fool Ken. Rest up, it won't be long before we are leaving." Mukuro whispers calmingly.

"_Kufufufu~"_

Mukuro knew he hadn't made that sound, even if the others assume he did. He looks to his left, down the corridor where two Estraneo scientists are walking past. Mukuro blinks and rubs his eyes as the image ripples and changes and suddenly it's a man and a woman with familiar hairstyles but unfamiliar clothes walking instead. The man looks strong and confident with a deviant smirk and the woman… she was like a purple-haired angel.

"_I met lots of the others too, like Kyoya and Takeshi and even you and Chrome! Chrome is really really pretty when she grows up! And it just had to be you since he went Kufufufu~ all the time" Tsunayoshi explains, doing his best impression of Mukuro's chuckle. "And he had the same eye. No one else I know has your eye Mukuro!"_

The man on the other side of the corridor turns to him and smirks, making eye contact, before turning and walking away. That man! He had had the same eye! It was… what Tsunayoshi said must have been true. Mukuro quickly forgets his Keepers and runs down the hallway after this strange man. The way the man had smirked was practically an invitation to follow him. He ignores the shouts from their Keeper to return, vaguely hearing Ken and Chikusa try and stop the man from following him. He smiles, proud of them.

He runs around the corner in the same direction that the adult pair had been walking. He sees the woman waiting for him by a door. She spots him and looks shocked for a second before quickly walking inside. Mukuro runs down to where she was and runs inside the door, which leads to another corridor. He had forgotten that this was a private corridor and that the door he had just run through was usually shut and locked.

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><p>"Nebbia-sama, what are we doing here?" Kiri asks, looking around them. She had thought that they were just mapping out the Estraneo base for future reference. "We were spotted by the younger you, shouldn't we leave?" She didn't think they were going to make contact. It would be bad if he mentioned seeing them to someone. They really should leave…<p>

"Kufufufu, don't worry, everything will be fine. I'm just helping, that's all." Nebbia replies, using the pass he had stolen from some random subordinate who had the bad luck to be walking past when they had arrived, to open the door infront of them.

He walks inside and immediately walks to the closest shelf, reading the names on the boxes. Kiri stands in the middle of the room, not having a clue what Nebbia-sama was looking for. She keeps on looking back at the door every few seconds, waiting for the little Nebbia to walk in. Taking a few steps towards a shelf, she looks inside, only to find a disassembled gun and bullets. A check of a different box reveals the same. A box across the room is filled with pocket knives, another with grenades. T-they were in the weapons' storage!

"Kufufufufufufu~" She spins around when Nebbia-sama gives a creepier laugh than normal. He was assembling an ornate silver gun. One she had never seen before. But she really didn't like the look in Nebbia-sama's eyes. Just what did that gun do?

Nebbia finishes assembling the gun, lifting it up to admire it for a moment. He reaches back into the box and pulls out the collection of bullets before placing them inside a bag. Walking across the room, he then places both bag and gun on the table. Before Kiri can ask what was so special about that gun and why he had placed it there, she hears the sound of footsteps running.

"Nebbi-" She is silenced by Nebbia-sama's finger on her lips and yet another strange expression on his face.

* * *

><p>Mukuro bursts into the only open door along this corridor. He looks around him but there is no sign of either of the two adults. But he had been <strong>sure<strong> that they had entered this room. He takes a few more paces in, still looking around suspiciously. Eventually he comes to the middle of the room where a glint of light catches his eye. Standing on tip-toes he looks to see what was shining up on the table.

Oya Oya?

Mukuro smirks before jumping up and snatching the item and bag off of the table. He opens the bag and looks inside. If Mukuro believed in something as silly as fate then he might think it was smiling on him. For here was the very weapon he was looking for, just sitting and waiting there for him. And it was **his** now.

Mukuro didn't care when his Keepers caught up with him. He didn't care about the beating that followed for running off and disobeying orders. He didn't care about any of it. Instead he just concentrated on his illusions, keeping the gun and bullets from being noticed. Now that he had them, he wasn't letting them go. Oh no, for these were the Estraneo's forbidden bullet-

The bullet that the Estraneo had been shunned for.

The bullet that was the key to his plans.

_The Possession bullet._

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><p><strong>For those of you who are wondering, yes I really am going where you think I am. Naughty Naughty Mukuro. <strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 25 January 2012**


	74. Use Every Tool at Your Disposal

Chapter 74:

Use Every Tool at Your Disposal

_I have another amazing announcement for you all! __**Sparo di Fiamma**__ shall be translating this fic into __**Spanish**__ for us. So I hope any of you Spanish speakers take a look and support them. The first chapter is up already for you all to read. (Wow the first chapter… that was sooo long ago.)_

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><p>"There are many different ways to utilise illusions in battle. In general Illusionists are not built for the front lines, although with Mukuro's new powers, he could do both. However, in most cases, Illusionists provide diversions and distractions so that the other team members can come in and finish the job." Mammon explains to her two pupils.<p>

She was currently sat on a chair in their cell room, the four children laying or sitting at her feet, listening intently. Ken and Chikusa had nothing better to do than sit and listen, plus they wanted to know more about how their brother and sister fought. It sounded like Chrome would need a lot of protection if she was ever sent into battle. Not that it would matter, they'd always be with her of course.

"That's not to say that Illusionists can't kill by themselves, they are just as capable. But Illusionists usually go about it in a less direct manner. Depending on the strength of the illusionist, it is possible to either force a different person to kill the target by accident or cause the target to kill themselves."

A member of the Estraneo, who had been leaning against the wall behind her, nods in agreement. He himself wasn't an Illusionist, these two children were the only Illusionists in the whole Family, but it was still good to get an understanding of how their new tools worked. Plus Mammon was a Varia professional, it would be a good chance to study her and look and listen for weaknesses. And from the talk, physical weaknesses seemed to be on top of that list.

Mammon turned the illusionary whiteboard back to face her before writing on it again with a floating pen.

"Once you are inside a target's head using your Mist Flames, it is possible to turn one enemy against another, causing either one or both to be killed."

_This is a good way to defend yourselves since this can be done from a distance. It is also a good way to protect someone else if you are too far away to reach or shout at them._

"It is not suggested that you make the target kill themselves since this often doesn't work."

_It does. But it requires a larger amount of Flames. I still wouldn't try it until you are a lot better than you are now. _

"Illusions can only affect humans. Any human can be affected by it."

_Some better than others. Be careful of people who have discipline, like masters of Martial arts who have trained their body to answer their every command. Martial artists often use other senses than sight which may throw an illusion off. Scientists too can be hard to handle because of their strong grasp of reality. _

The children give her a weird look. Scientists and a strong grasp of reality? Really? Had she taken a look at her own scientist recently? The man across the room notices the look but assumed that they are offended by Mammon's over simplified and rather obvious statement.

_Scientists deal in facts. The laws of Physics are set and unchangeable. They are more likely to spot flaws in illusions. A scientist who knows about Illusionists will immediately jump to the conclusion that it is an Illusionist messing with them. Some scientists are easier to take control of because they aren't entirely sane, but not all scientists are as the media depicts them. _

"Animals cannot be controlled by an illusionist, unless they are ones the Illusionist has created themselves."

_False. Animals can be controlled. _She looks at Mukuro here. _Those animals you summon are controllable. It will be hard because their minds are not like human ones. You need different thoughts to control them. Getting them to do what you want them to is best done by pulling at their instincts- food, or the fight and flight instinct. __Because animals are so unreliable due to their small brain size and intelligence, most Illusionists don't bother targeting them, seeing it as a waste of Flames. _

"OI byon, why did you look at me then? I'm smart!" Ken shouts, looking at the smirk Mukuro had given him and the funny look that was equivalent to a smirk from Chikusa. Chrome gives him a few pats on the head and Ken purrs, foot beating against the floor like a dog. This makes the other three giggle. Ken pouts before crossing his arms and moodily looking in the other direction. He couldn't help it!

"Illusions are most commonly applied externally, or within everyone's sight." Mammon flicks her wrist before a set of tarot cards sits in her palm. She clicks and they disappear. "But as you already know they can be applied internally too. It is possible for the illusion to tell the person how to feel."

_Controlling a person's emotions is very hard to do because there are so many factors. If the feeling is based on reality then it is easier to do. Making someone love you is harder if that person hates you. But if they love or like you, then it's easier and requires less Flames. More Flames are required to force a person to kill or steal if they are very against the idea, finding it morally wrong. Fear is generally the easiest emotion to cause in others. It's a very useful one too. People attack out blindly in fear, which can be used as a form of attack on your target. Or else people run. _

_However, as you know, it is also possible to control how a person's body reacts to itself. Mukuro is telling Chrome's body that the missing pieces are still there and working, fooling her body into thinking that it is fine. It is also possible for a strong illusionist to remove the feeling of pain totally. HOWEVER, this is not recommended. The body will still be collecting damage, bones will still get broken and blood will still be lost. It is still possible for a person to collapse or die even if they don't feel any pain. I only ever do this with Skull because he knows when to stop. However there are times when not feeling pain is beneficial to the mission. Or to each other. _

"Illusions work best when you are familiar with the thing you are trying to create. It is easier to imaging something you are familiar with. In addition, the smaller the object then the easier it is. Creating an apple will be very easy because it is so small and most people have eaten one. You can pull from both your experience and the experience of the target to make it almost perfect. Creating illusions from imagination alone is harder and is more likely to go wrong."

_Creating an 'experience' is harder. Creating an illusion of the floor cracking and falling from under you means that you have to know what falling feels like, including the sensation of your stomach dropping, the wind through your hair and the innate fear of falling itself. Personally, Mukuro will be good at creating illusions involving pain because of the experiments the Estraneo did. Chrome will be good at creating the illusion of a heart attack, a stroke, nausea and other such bodily pains because of her own experiences. Of course if your target hasn't experienced it either, then quite often just imagination alone will suffice. Reading books and watching as much television as possible is recommended since people are more likely to believe clichés. _

"Using illusions can make you invisible by erasing yourself from the target's sight. You can also make groups of people disappear too. It is important to remember that these people are still there. Unless you make it so, they will still be heard or smelt. They can still be run into, attacked, or trip into a table and cause it to fall over. People will still be seen on cameras and other surveillance systems."

_Become strong enough and you can even fool machinery. I'll tell you what you need to think about when you become a little older. _

Viper looks over at Chrome, wondering how much of this the little girl really understands. Mukuro would get most of it since he was that much older than her. Chrome was currently sat on Mukuro's lap, directly infront of Viper. This was so that the observer behind her couldn't see Mukuro and Chrome. Chrome wasn't able to read just yet, being only 4, so Mukuro had been whispering what Viper had written, making it simpler for her to understand.

She makes clear eye contact with Mukuro before looking down at Chrome and back up at him. He nods his head in understanding. What she was about to write was specifically for her.

_In summary, illusions work in one of two ways; Making yourself believe something or making someone else believe something. It's easier to make someone believe something if they want to believe it, or if it is possible in the current situation. Illusions of things you know or have experienced are better and easier to create than illusions you are making up. You shouldn't use illusions on yourself unless necessary, hence why Mukuro controls your organs. Using an illusion on yourself can make you go crazy. _

_Next time I'll teach you how to defend yourselves from other people and from other illusionists. That includes you two. _She looks at Ken and Chikusa, making sure they realise they were being taught next time too.

"That is all for today." She says, making the whiteboard disappear. She stands up and walks towards the door. "My next lesson won't be for a while since I'm going on a mission with the Varia today."

"Alright then, alright then, back into your cells." Orders the observer. He growls when the children don't get up quick enough. "C'mon, I ain't got all day." He strides over to where Mukuro and Chrome were, Chrome still finding her feet since they had gone numb from sitting down for so long.

The man raises his leg to kick the small girl with. But suddenly he turns a rather strange shade of green and puts his foot on back on the ground.

"Urgh, something must have been off with lunch." He mumbles, a hand against his mouth.

The four children look towards Mammon, who is standing in the doorway, her arm extended towards the man, her hand spread out in his direction. She didn't need to make these dramatic hand gestures, but it worked for her current purpose. Slowly she closes her fist. The man makes a weird gurgling sound before running out of the room, looking greener than before.

"Haha! Serves him right!" Cheers Ken, sticking his tongue out at the man's retreating back.

"Thank you Mammon." Says Chikusa.

Mammon doesn't say anything back. She just turns and walks away.

"Mammon would get into a lot of trouble if anyone ever found out what she's doing." Mukuro comments, handing over Chrome's owl plushie before returning back to his own cell. "The people that run the Family wouldn't like the fact she is teaching us how to use illusions to protect each other. And they would be mad that she is telling the observers wrong information. She's the only Illusionist on the island so they don't have anyone to ask to see if she is correct or not."

"But it's good that she's teaching you this stuff. Our Keepers only told her to teach us how to kill using illusions but she's doing more than that." Chikusa adds in, nodding his head.

"All they want us for is killing people." Grumbles Ken. "I wish we were out of here already, then we wouldn't be told what to do."

"No more ouches." Adds in Chrome. Ken nods; yes they wouldn't be beaten up anymore if they were free.

"Maybe I should just use my claws on them instead. See how they like the ouches." Ken thinks, looking at his hands. They were currently claw-less, but that was easily fixed with one bite.

"Kufufufu, there is no need to trouble yourself Ken." Mukuro assures in a confident voice, "We shall be free of here sooner than you think. It is nearly time for me to put my plan into action. The 'key' to our salvation shall be here soon. And then we can watch as the Estraneo is destroyed. We'll never have to worry about them ever again."

* * *

><p>"Hey hey! Vip-ah-Mammon, Mammon! You should see the <strong>huge<strong> cake Luce made today. It's 7 cakes stacked on top of each other and they're all different colours. It's amaz- ohhh, Mammon isn't here." Tsunayoshi pouts. He had been opening the door to the room where the four Estraneo experiments were kept, hoping to tell her about this jaw dropping cake. But when Verde finally pushed open the door fully for him, she wasn't in there.

"Hey, Tsunayoshi's back!" sings Ken, walking up to the bars.

"You just missed Mammon. She left a few minutes ago." Chikusa explains.

"Ohh, I was hoping she could pull the picture out of my head so I could show you guys." Tsunayoshi says, walking further in the room.

"Tsunayoshi, I'll be back shortly. Make sure to stay here until I come back." Verde interrupts. Tsunayoshi nods- he got that sentence every single time he came here. Verde nods himself before closing the door.

"What do you mean 'take the picture out of your head'?" Asks Mukuro, intrigued. He had never heard her mention that before.

"Didn't you know that Mammon can read minds? She puts a finger on your head and she can tell what you're thinking." The four then nod. Mammon had done that to communicate with Chrome when the girl was still learning how to talk. She still did it sometimes; pictures and feelings were easier to understand than words when it came to illusions. "She does it whenever I can't explain something properly because I don't know what it's called." It took all the fun out of charades, but sometimes the Arcobaleno didn't want to play that game. "Or when I'm crying so much I can't talk. But anyway, she could take the picture of the cake and then make it so you all could see it. Verde says there are rules or something that means I can't bring you any cake."

"I wish I could eat that cake. 7 layers sounds soo yummy." Ken practically drools thinking about that cake.

"It's a shame that we can't be free of here and eat Luce's delicious cooking." Mukuro says, leaning against the bars and looking forlorn.

"Cute mouse clothes." Chrome whispers, looking at Tsunayoshi excitedly. "I want some. You get really pretty clothes." Chrome looked down at her own clothes. They didn't look bad at the moment, but that was only because they had gotten a new set when their training began. Her old set had lots of rips and holes in them.

Tsunayoshi looks down at his brand new clothes and realises what the others mean. He'd never seen them in anything but those cream-gone-grey clothes all the time. He felt kind of bad about it.

"Hey, why are your clothes wet?" Ken asks, leaning as far forwards as he could.

"Hmm? Because it's raining outside and I forgot the umbrella. Verde didn't think to bring one either. I kind of ran out of the house without him in my excitement." Tsunayoshi blushes as he looks down. He had wanted to tell Viper about the cake so badly he'd ran out of the house without thinking. She was going on a mission soon and he wanted to see her one more time before she left. He'd have to stop by the Varia house and see if she was there.

"Rain? I wonder what that's like?" Ken hums, sitting down on all fours to think.

"You wouldn't like it since it's like a shower. Which you hate." Chikusa remarks, giving Ken a look. The other boy hated it when they got showers- the Estraneo didn't waste time on baths for them all.

"But I wouldn't mind getting wet if it meant I could be outside. Someone said that it smells a lot better after it rains. And there's grass! I've always wanted to roll in the grass!" Ken claims dramatically, laying back on the hard concrete of the cell floor. "I wanna go outside." He whines.

"Oh yeah, you don't go outside much do you?" Tsunayoshi thinks, a small frown on his face. In fact the only time he had ever seen them outside was during his birthday party. It must be awful to not be able to go outside. It was hard enough staying in his room when he'd been naughty. But never leaving his room was just unthinkable.

"Well, it can't be helped. We are trapped and Tsunayoshi is free. That's just how things are." Mukuro comments, shrugging his shoulders.

"But you're not going to stay in here forever! You're my friends. I won't let you!" Tsunayoshi shouts. Surely when the others were older they'd be let out? It was really mean to never let them out. Maybe he should get Bermuda to tell the Estraneo off?

"You'd really do that Tsunayoshi? That's awesome." Smiles Ken, jumping back up to his feet in excitement. He'd never had someone say that before. And Tsunayoshi wasn't like all the horrible adults.

"Of course. You're my friends and I'd always look after you." Tsunayoshi smiles back brightly.

"You did get Verde to look after us." Chikusa says, backing Tsunayoshi up.

"I like being friends." Chrome smiles, hugging Mukurowl tightly. "Can… can we be friends for ever?" She asks, blushing slightly.

Running over to her cage, Tsunayoshi leans through the bars and strokes her hair. "Of course Chrome. For ever and ever and ever!"

"Oya Oya? Would you really? Then promise us." Mukuro demands.

"I promise." Tsunayoshi says seriously.

Mukuro clicks his tongue and looks away. "Anyone can say words. The adults promised us a lot of things but they've all been broken. If you really want to promise then you should swear on your blood. I hear that if you break a blood promise then you die. People keep promises they make if they swear it on their blood."

Tsunayoshi tilts his head. "Hm? I've never heard of that before. But okay, I'll promise that way. I really will be your friend always. So how do we do it?"

"Just let us out and I can show you." Mukuro directs, trying hard to hide the smirk on his face. So close. He was so close. He wanted to laugh at how easy this was.

Before long all five of them are sat in a circle in the middle of the room. "To make this promise you have to cut yourself so some blood wells up and then you press the cuts together, so it's like having everyone else's blood." Mukuro explains. The others don't look scared. After what they had been through a small cut was nothing. Tsunayoshi got cuts and scrapes on a daily basis.

Holding his hand out to the side, he concentrates and before long, the top half of a trident appears in his hands. It was his favourite, the best way for him to concentrate on his illusions.

"So let's promise to be friends for ever." Mukuro says, looking seriously at the others before letting out a smile. The others smile back at him and hold their hands out. Mukuro goes first, making a small cut on his finger and watching the blood come out. He very gently cuts Chrome, Ken and Chikusa's fingers too until all that's left is Tsunayoshi.

_So close. Any second now…_

"I promise to be friends with all of you for ever and ever." Tsunayoshi smiles, holding his hand out. Mukuro leans forwards and uses the trident to make a cut in Tsunayoshi's finger.

**Yes. Kufufufufu~**

Mukuro smirks widely, overjoyed. So overjoyed infact that he almost forgets what he was supposed to be doing. He blinks before putting his finger in the middle where all of the others' fingers were.

"There. Now we've made the promise." Mukuro nods. "And since you're our friend Tsunayoshi, you'd want to help us, right?" Heh, who was he kidding. Tsunayoshi was a little angel, there was no way he'd say no. He only saw the good in everything, he didn't think that anyone would use him.

"Of course I would Mukuro!" Tsunayoshi says happily.

He jumps however when suddenly there is a strange looking gun in Mukuro's hand. It was force of habit to stand and prepare to run at the sight of a gun- Reborn liked to shoot at him too much. However, Mukuro doesn't aim it at him. Instead he slowly raises it to point-

"Hey, Mukuro, what are you doin-" Tsunayoshi protests, stepping forwards to stop Mukuro. Didn't he know that was bad!

_**BANG.**_

The three others blink when both Mukuro and Tsunayoshi collapse and fall to the floor. Chikusa catches Tsunayoshi before he can slam his head into the floor.

Just what had… happened?

* * *

><p><strong>Oh yes, I went there. I've always liked the idea of Mukuro possessing Tsunayoshi- it's in a few other of my fics too. And this chapter fits rather nicely with it's title for once. <strong>

**So don't miss the next chapter, okay?**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 27 January 2013**


	75. Cheat if You Have To

Chapter 75:

Cheat if You Have To.

'Hnn, My head feels heavy.' Tsunayoshi thinks. He opens his eyes- when had he even closed them?- and looks around. He was… He wasn't really sure actually. Somewhere new. All he could see was black with indigo mist. No walls, no ceiling, no objects, no people, nothing. Just where was he? And more importantly, how did he get… here…?

The last thing he remembered was promising the others that he'd be their friend for ever and ever. Mukuro had brought out his trident and that had set off some alarm bells in Tsunayoshi's head. It was one of those weird feelings that knew things he didn't, one of those pictures with people he knew more grown up. It was telling him not to get cut, that getting cut was really really bad. But this was Mukuro they were talking about. Tsunayoshi didn't think Mukuro would do anything to harm him, just look at how he cared for Chrome.

These feelings were often wrong anyway. And he trusted Mukuro.

But slowly, slowly, these pictures were tainted, blurred, in a vague purple fog. The pictures were never very clear to start with, but slowly it became that he couldn't see them at all. He couldn't figure out what these pictures were trying to tell him, even if the feelings told him they were important. And eventually, he couldn't see them anymore, almost as if a wall of purple glass was in between them. Nothing, not even the warning bells rang out anymore.

But there had been many times where these feelings had been wrong. Lots of times they made people out to be worse and scarier than they were. Sure there were lots of times that these feelings were right- especially when it came to dodging weapons and traps- but they weren't something he could trust in fully.

However, with complete trust in Mukuro instead, Tsunayoshi had stretched out his hand and gotten cut. He had promised to be their friend for eternity and he wasn't going to turn his back on that promise. Never. But then… But then! Mukuro had raised that funny gun to his head. Didn't he know how dangerous that was? Had Mukuro shot himself? Had he survived? Was Mukuro alright?

"Mukuro! Mukuro! Where are you? Are you okay?"

But there was no answer.

* * *

><p>"Kufufufu, kufufufufufu, kufufufu~" Tsunayoshi laughs, sitting up in Chikusa's grip. A hand was over his right eye, fingers rubbing his temple.<p>

"OOOIII! What the hell happened, byon?" Shouts Ken, standing in front of Tsunayoshi with his fists on his hips, a scowl on his face. "First Mukuro pulls out this gun, then shoots himself and then both of you fall to the ground? I demand to know what happened!" Then he thrusts a pointing hand in Chrome's direction. "And you made Chrome cry!" Which was a crime in his book.

Chrome tilts her head to the side for a moment, looking at Tsunayoshi weirdly. She looks between Tsunayoshi and Mukuro's body and then back again. She crawls over and sits in Tsunayoshi's lap- this makes it rather heavy for Chikusa, since Tsunayoshi has been on his lap, but with the weird situation, he wasn't going to complain. Tsunayoshi looks at Chrome, chocolate eye shining and a huge grin on his face. This wasn't uncommon for Tsunayoshi, he was hardly ever without a smile, but this smile… just wasn't _right_.

Placing her hands on the one covering Tsunayoshi's right eye, she tugs gently. "Mukuro?"

"What are you talking about silly girl, Mukuro is still over there." Growls Ken, pointing to Mukuro's unmoving body.

"Oya oya, I would rethink calling my precious Chrome stupid." Tsunayoshi says, voice slyer and meaner than usual.

"Ken, I really think-" Starts Chikusa in an quiet mumble.

"See, it's only Tsunayoshi pretending to be Mukuro. He's just joking with us." Ken announces, crossing his arms. He then walks over to where Mukuro was. "Hey, wake up byon. This is no time to be sleeping." He shakes Mukuro a few times, but the other doesn't make any movements or sounds. "Oooiii~" Ken protests, shaking harder and harder. Eventually he gets annoyed and slaps Mukuro around the face. "Wake up!"

"I would appreciate it if you didn't harm my body whilst I am not inside of it." Growls Tsunayoshi.

Ken looks over towards Tsunayoshi, a confused expression on his face. "Huh?"

"Mukuro." Chrome insists, tugging on that hand once more. Tsunayoshi obliges, dropping the hand over his right eye. He hears the other three gasp and looks up.

"What's wrong?" He asks, looking at the shocked expressions.

"Scary scars." Chrome whispers, pulling away slightly. She then holds her hands out before closing her eyes to concentrate. '_An illusion. A mirror. He can see what I can see.' _When she opens her eyes again, the illusionary mirror is in her hands and Tsunayoshi is looking into it.

"Hmm, this is not good. I'll be found out immediately if anyone else sees this." Tsunayoshi grumbles, running a hand along the defacing tell-tale scars. He had never heard about this side effect to the bullet. Maybe that was why no one used it any more.

"Found out? So you really are Mukuro?" asks Ken, walking closer. He gets right up close, nose sniffing, before frowning, "But you still smell like Tsunayoshi."

"Of course I'm Mukuro. That bullet I shot was the Estraneo's Forbidden Possession Bullet. It allows me to take over Tsunayoshi's body. I need it for my plan. You've heard the stories, Tsunayoshi practically has the Arcobaleno wrapped around his little finger. They'll do anything he asks for. Add in a few tears and puppy expressions and they'll be putty in my hands, kufufufu. I'm going to get them to destroy the Estraneo once and for all. And from there on, who knows? Maybe even the whole of the Mafia!"

Ken and Chikusa look at Tsunayoshi with shining eyes. He could really do that? "Everyone here knows what evils the Estraneo are committing and not once have they ever tried to help us. The Mafia is a horrible place filled with horrible people. No one ever helped us, our own parents threw us away. The world is filled with nasty people. We should start again and only let nice people live in the world. Tsunayoshi is rather influential on the island. I can use the other people to create a better world before removing them afterwards." He passionately states, malice unhidden in his voice.

The child truly believed he could change the world. With his powers, the powers of Ken, Chikusa and Chrome, and of course, the influence and likeability of Tsunayoshi, he was sure that he could do it. It wasn't going to happen overnight, oh no, even he knew that, but eventually, one day, he'd make that dream come true.

"That sounds really nice." Chikusa agrees. "No one else would end up like us."

"Yeah! No more mean adults who hit us and tell us off. Only nice people who are kind and give us lots of sweets." Ken imagines.

"No more left alone." Chrome says, looking down and away. Mukuro would make it so that no one was unloved and thrown away, abandoned to die like she had been. If anyone could do it, it would be Mukuro. Tsunayoshi nods and hugs Chrome tightly.

"Exactly. But for my plan to work, we can't let the Arcobaleno know that I'm not Tsunayoshi. When the Professor comes back, pretend that I'm just sleeping, like I'm worn out from Mammon's recent lessons. Tell our Keepers that I've got a cold, they won't check on me that way." Tsunayoshi orders. "Ken help me move my body."

"Sure~" Ken agrees, bounding over before grabbing Mukuro's legs. Carefully the two boys lift Mukuro's body into the cell, right at the back in the shadows. "But are you sure you can be Tsunayoshi? You two are quite different."

"Haha, what are you talking about Ken?" Asks Tsunayoshi, smiling brightly whilst tilting his head. There was just the right about of energy and cuteness in his voice. All three had to blink at the sudden transformation. Wow, Mukuro was good. "It's all part of the really really cool bullet! It wouldn't be very good otherwise." Even the pout was just right. "Plus, I've watched Tsunayoshi lots and lots."

"But… the eye…" Reminds Chrome, shaking out of her shock first. Knowing that it was Mukuro acting like that was actually rather creepy.

"Huh? Oh that's easy. I just need an illusion for that. Luckily Viper's not around to notice it." Tsunayoshi waves a hand infront of his face and suddenly it looked like normal, even Mukuro's red eye was back to being chocolate brown.

The sound of footsteps interrupts the conversation. "Quick, you had better get back into the cells before the Keepers come to check on us." The other three nod, rushing to return to their cells and close the doors.

Tsunayoshi turns to face the door and grins a Mukuro-like smirk. "Now for the first step: To get the Arcobaleno to despise the Estraneo." He taps his trident against the floor as the door opens.

The Estraneo guard from earlier returns, looking a lot less nauseous than earlier. "Che, damn brat, why aren't you back in your cage?" He growls, annoyed. "Oi Pineapple brat, get moving already!" He stomps forwards a hand raised, ready to attack. The child doesn't move, instead grinning back up at him defiantly. Angered, the Estraneo member smacks the disobedient child, causing him to fall to the floor. He then takes a step closer before kicking the child in the stomach.

"AHHH! That hurts! Please, stop! OOOOWWW!"

Not ten seconds later, a killer aura fills the room. "What do you think you are doing?" asks a voice colder than ice. The subordinate freezes at the aura and the sound of the voice. His Family was filled with insane killers, but no one made him scared like this. Slowly he turns around, coming face to face with a territorial, protective scientist. But not just any scientist, one known as THE Mad Scientist, AND a member of the Arcobaleno. He wasn't going to make it out of here alive…

The subordinate's eyes widen as slowly sparks of electricity race along Verde's hair and clothes. "Ha-ha-h-ha, I was just d-disciplining one of our experiments. Y-you can't tell me what to d-do." He stutters, trying to put up a façade.

"Are you blind? That child is not one of your experiments." Verde growls, thoroughly annoyed. The subordinate looks confused and looks back down at the child he had been kicking. B-but it was a different one! It was Verde's pet project, not one of their experiments! But he was sure that it was experiment number 69 earlier.

Verde reaches forwards, not in the mood to play around and listen to excuses. Someone had harmed HIS experiment, that was more than enough reason for him. And to be honest, who was going to stop him? A bright flash of blue-white leaps from his fingers and into the subordinate. He jolts, muscles stiffening, before collapsing to the ground unconscious.

Tsunayoshi sniffs, tears running down his face, before he finally lets out a huge cry. "Waaahh! Verde I was so scared. I hadn't done anything wrong, promise!" He flings his hands around Verde's waist, crying into the man's lab coat.

The other three try not to look shocked: Mukuro could cry too? They had never seen him cry before. However, they had seen the exact same scene as before them, a long time ago. Tsunayoshi had cried like that when pleading Verde to save the four of them.

Verde picks the crying child up before storming out of the room.

* * *

><p>"Oh my poor darling. Here, let Mamma Luce fix you right up!" Luce cries upon seeing Tsunayoshi and Verde return. She sits Tsunayoshi down on the kitchen table before handing him a glass of warm milk and some freshly baked cookies. "Really, the Estraneo take things too far sometimes. They shouldn't treat their children like this." She mumbles. "There we go, a plaster," she sings, smoothing the plaster over Tsunayoshi's cheek, "and a kiss," she then kisses the plaster, "To make it all better." She smiles at Tsunayoshi.<p>

"Thank you, Luce." Tsunayoshi smiles back.

"Now how about we go and check what all the noise outside is?" Luce suggests. She picks him up and places him back on the floor before leading the way out of the kitchen. When they get into the living room, it's to find Fon restraining a squirming and shouting Skull.

"Let me go! The great Skull-sama is going to teach them a lesson!" Skull roars, trying to free himself from Fon's tight grip. All he needed was his trusty helmet and he'd be ready to wreak the Reaper's havoc on them!

"Skull, please calm down. I know that you are mad, we all are, but the damage isn't that bad. Look Tsunayoshi is fine." Fon calms, turning Skull to look at where Tsunayoshi was.

It was true that the others weren't happy either. Verde especially since it had happened when Tsunayoshi was under his care. The electronics around the house were randomly turning on and off and the lights were constantly dimming and brightening. Luce sighs, she'd have to calm Verde down before he blew a fuse.

Skull breaks free of Fon's grip before running over to Tsunayoshi and kneeling before the boy, running his hands over Tsunayoshi's arms to check that he was okay. "Oh Tsunayoshi, are you alright? Just say the word and I'll go over there and I'll tell them off for you!"

Tsunayoshi looks down at the floor, twisting his hands together. "You should go tell them off. But not for me, for the others. I don't like the way they are mean to Mukuro and Ken and Chikusa and especially Chrome! I know the others say that they are fine with it and that's just how the Estraneo are but it's really not fair! They get hit all the time and they're never allowed outside and… and… and no one **loves** them. I don't want them to stay like that. I want them to laugh and smile just like we all do!"

Mukuro wanted to shiver. Never had he thought he would say something as sappy as that. But he knew that this was how Tsunayoshi acted… so act like this he would.

"Hey, hey, calm down Tsunayoshi." Colonnello says, walking over to ruffle the boy's hair. "I know that you're sad about your friends, but we don't really get involved in the affairs of other Families. There's not a lot we can do."

"B-but-but…" Tsunayoshi says, bottom lip quivering. "Can't you do something Bermuda? You tell all the naughty people off."

"Indeed I could, if they had broken one of the rules. There are no rules in the Mafia against Human experimentation, it is done in the normal world too. There are no rules against slavery, imprisonment or the treatment of children." Bermuda explains, taking a sip of his tea. However he wasn't as calm as he looked, his quivering chains told more than he was letting on.

Tsunayoshi looked absolutely heartbroken upon hearing that.

"Look, brat, don't worry about it. You should believe in your friends more. They are all strong children, they'll survive, they've survived so far. With Viper teaching two of them, they'll soon become strong enough to protect themselves from the Estraneo." Lal explains, looking up from a map spread on the wall.

"Anyway, you had better hide those tears before Reborn comes home." Fon advises, handing over a tissue box. Tsunayoshi nods and take one before wiping his eyes. Skull then picks him up before sitting down on the sofa and placing Tsunayoshi on his lap.

"Alright then! I shall let them survive for today. But I'll send them all to the Reaper next time!" Skull declares before reaching for the television remote and finding something that he and Tsunayoshi could watch together.

Just as Skull finally finds a decent show, the television makes a clunking noise before turning off. No amount of button pushing will turn it on.

"Oh dear, I had better go sort Verde out," Sighs Luce, "It's the last episode of my favourite soap opera tonight and I absolutely can't miss it." The Arcobaleno nod, making a mental note to not be watching the TV at that time.

"Hey, lackey, move over. Lal is about to teach Tsunayoshi how to read a map. We don't need you interrupting." Colonnello says, making a flicking gesture.

"Hey, I was sat here first!" Skull says back, offended.

"I don't care, move." The soldier orders, giving Skull a harsh kick. The stuntman yelps before climbing over the sofa as quickly as possible.

"Fine. I was going to go and practice for the next gig anyway." He announces, even if it was obvious that he had had no such plans. The rest of the room sigh over the usual routine. But… there was one bit missing.

Everyone looks over to Tsunayoshi expectantly, a weird look in their eyes. By now, Tsunayoshi had usually told Colonnello off for hurting Skull. Yet he hadn't.

"Yay! A map! Can you show me where Viper and the Varia are going?" Tsunayoshi says instead, kicking his feet against the sofa.

That was… unusual. Maybe he was just worn out after what had happened at the Estraneo?

* * *

><p>It was the end of the day, and Mukuro was worn out to say the least. He had had a dynamic lesson in map reading, involving a few arguments between the pair of soldiers, which were quite funny to watch. Then he'd had a martial arts lesson from Fon. It was no wonder that Tsunayoshi's body was in such tip top condition if he trained like that every day. He didn't know that Tsunayoshi could do all those things. Thankfully with his 4th Path, he could copy Tsunayoshi's abilities perfectly, which luckily covered the martial arts.<p>

After that, Skull and he had been chased around the house by Luce, who seemed to have some sort of scary handbag on her, because they'd eaten the majority of the cake she had made earlier by themselves. Skull had kept on shouting out something about a bag and cosplay (whatever that was) and how flowers and leather didn't mix. He had been saved by Bermuda, who started playing a video game with him.

After that they'd had dinner, and he was quite surprised when Lal lifted him onto her lap with a sigh. "C'mon then, it's my turn tonight, right?" (Over the years, she had decided that it was less effort and wasted energy if she just went along with the whims of the brat. He'd sat on Colonnello for lunch earlier, which meant it was her turn next- according to Tsunayoshi, he sat on them one after another so they didn't get jealous…). He hadn't been expecting that at all. Plus everyone looked as if the sight was perfectly natural. He didn't think he'd ever laughed so much today- sure it was all part of his act, but one had to wonder how many of those laughs were genuine.

So now, here he was, in some pyjamas that made him look like a cow, lying next to Luce. She'd given him another glass of warm milk, apparently to make him sleep better after the awful day he'd had. But the strangest thing was, she was hugging him. Tightly. And he was positive that she had fallen asleep too. Was he supposed to sleep like this? He'd never been hugged before, except the ones Chrome gave him. It was… rather nice actually, Luce's general treatment of Tsunayoshi too.

Tsunayoshi yawns and closes his eyes, leaning his head against Luce's shoulder_. 'So this is what a mother was like.' _He wouldn't know, he'd never met his mother before. He'd never been part of a family before, except the one they had created between the four of them. This whole environment was so strange, rather alien. All of it was new to him, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. At least in the Estraneo he knew where he stood, knew how to react, how other people would react to him. But here… nothing made sense. These people were Mafioso, yet so very different from the people he wanted to destroy.

If this was what Tsunayoshi's everyday life was like, then he was one very lucky boy. Mukuro could only hope that maybe after he'd made the world anew, that the world became more like this house, even just a little bit.

* * *

><p><strong>Phantom Hitman 1412<strong>

**First Published: 31 January 2013**


	76. Even Reach into Hell for Power

Chapter 76:

Even reach into Hell for power

It was the dead of the night, pitch black outside and silent inside. A figure creeps into the room where a mother and a child are sleeping peacefully. The figure, a man blending perfectly into the midnight shadows, looks at the scene with a lip raised in annoyance and disgust. His partner is shaking, letting out silent growls, hating the scene as much as the first. It wasn't right, that child should never be in the bed with that woman.

That was not the right child.

His partner understands him well, pressing a gun into his hand. The figure stalks over, looming over the pair sleeping in the bed. He aims a gun at the child tucked into the woman's arms. He would remove this child. His aim is perfect as usual, his hand not even shaking a millimetre. Pulling back the hammer, the gun clicks loudly in the dead silence as he lowers the gun towards the child's head.

This was not His child. His would have reacted by now.

But instead the woman reacts. And before the killer can move, he's suddenly got a gun aimed at him too. One wrong move would destroy everything.

"Welcome home dear," she smiles, her gun not moving an inch.

"Why didn't you tell me it was today?" he replies, ignoring her welcome. His gun too remains on target.

"Because you didn't need to know." The mother replies, looking down at the child still encircled by one of her arms. "We have discussed this after all."

"But still-" starts the villain, looking down at the child too. He considered continuing with his plan, pressing the barrel to the child's temple, scaring the life out of him. But the damn woman still had that gun aimed at him. But knowing her, the gun could either be filled with real bullets, or with pink permanent paint. In the dark, he couldn't tell which one it was. And with his partner as he was, he wouldn't be able to move quick enough to protect him from either attack, nor would the assassin be able to dodge at this close range. This lady may not be as good as him, but she was pretty damn good with a gun.

"I'm serious." The mother gives him a look, _that_ look. The one that makes him remember that she is his boss, a woman with the future at her fingertips. With an ability like that, it was hard to argue with her, for she really did know what was best. "I will not have you destroy the only chance these children have at a happy end."

"How am I supposed to believe something like that? If the brat wanted them out of there then he could have asked me. One night would be all I needed and no one would have to be bothered by those slimy rats ever again."

"And do you think anyone would like the ending afterwards?" His Boss asks. She wondered whether she was going to have to repeat the conversation they had a week ago. "Believe me dear, when I say that this gives the best outcome for **everyone**, not just those four."

The subordinate looks down again and still considered going through with his plan anyway. What if this hurt His child? What if he could never come back?

The assassin looks up quickly when the mother giggles. This was not the time for giggling! "You're so sweet, dear. Our boy would be pleased to know you care about him this much." She gives him a sweet smile, happy at the killer's odd show of affection. Although if anyone knew just how much he cared for their Precious, it was the child himself.

The room is lit by an iridescent glowing sphere for a few seconds before his partner jumps out of the killer's hand and onto the bed. He crawls over to the sleeping child before giving him a lick on the cheek. The Boss pets the familiar before returning the small shadow to the assassin's sleeve.

The shadowed figure returns his hand to his side, balls it into a fist and strides out of the room.

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi wakes up and stretches. That might have been the best night's sleep he had ever gotten. There was no screaming, no sounds of experiments, no sounds of gun practice, absolutely nothing. He had slept on an actual bed rather than the pile of covers he had in his cell, had a pillow and fresh fluffy covers that smelt of flowers. He could get used to that.<p>

And he was still being hugged.

He looks up and realises that Luce is watching him. "Good morning sweetie," She smiles. "Are you ready for some breakfast? I think I hear Skull making American-styled pancakes downstairs."

All Tsunayoshi could hear downstairs was a lot of shouting between Skull and Colonnello. But he nods his head anyway. He had heard of these 'pancakes', apparently they were very yummy. So he follows Luce, still in his cow print pyjamas, down to the ground floor and into the kitchen area. Although he is surprised by what he sees. He had noticed that Colonnello had stopped shouting but hadn't thought about it. However, he had not expected to enter the room and find Colonnello tied and gagged to a chair by Bermuda's chains.

Luce, nor the others, seem to care. Reborn looked pretty good about it.

"He was annoying Skull. And I don't want to eat burnt pancakes." Bermuda explains, sitting next to his victim.

"Maybe we should feed him the burnt ones since they are his fault." Smirks Reborn, sending a challenging look at Colonnello. The soldier glares back.

"I see nothing scientifically wrong with feeding him burnt food, especially since his actions have jeopardised our own nourishment." Verde agrees, sipping at his coffee with one hand whilst writing with the other.

Colonnello looks over to Lal, hoping that she would save him. But she doesn't. Soldiers had to be prepared to eat anything since provisions were often in low supply, even at the COMSUBIN.

"Tsunayoshi, your pancakes are done. I made sure that they are perfectly done for you!" Skull shouts out above the argument going on. "Where are you sitting today?" Tsunayoshi looks around, wondering where to sit. Maybe he should sit on the Professor since he seemed rather involved in his work and wasn't that dangerous compared to the others.

'_Martial artists often use other senses than sight which may throw an illusion off. Scientists too can be hard to handle because of their strong grasp of reality.' _Hmm, maybe not then, nor on Fon either.

Eventually Tsunayoshi decides to sit in Skull's empty chair instead. Skull was busy cooking anyway. The stuntman grins, happy to add two points to his score (one for winning an argument against Colonnello-sempai and one for getting Tsunayoshi), and it was still early in the day!

"Oi brat." Tsunayoshi looks up to the other end of the table where Reborn was, newspaper spread out infront of him. "How did you get those bandages?" He had to think for a moment which bandages Reborn was talking about, before remembering the one Luce had placed on his cheek.

Tsunayoshi looks down and away, sheepish. He knew that Reborn didn't like it when he got hurt, especially when it was his own fault. Although… this time it wasn't exactly his own fault. "Umm… It was… one of the Estraneo." He mumbles. Tsunayoshi was supposed to be able to defend himself.

The lights in the room flicker once again as Verde gets angry once more. Skull is quick to place the next set of pancakes infront of the scientist to appease him.

The newspaper still covers Reborn's face, so no one can see his expression. "How did that happen?"

"Umm…" He had better come up with a reason quick. "He… thought I was one of their experiments." Yes, that worked and went with what Verde thinks happened too. "They think any children there are their experiments, and if they are naughty then they beat them up. At least that's what Ken told me."

"And had you done something wrong?" Reborn asks.

Tsunayoshi shakes his head. "Nu-uh. He thought that I was out of my cell. He didn't know that I wasn't one of their experiments, even if they want me to be. BUT they shouldn't beat the children like that anyway. Mukuro and Chrome and Ken and Chikusa are never naughty enough to deserve getting hurt as much as they do. It's not right!" He starts to whimper, bringing back the sad face he had made the yesterday. "N-no one on the Island likes the Estraneo anyway because of how mean and naughty and horrible they are. That's why my friends are being experimented on in the first place. They shouldn't be allowed to do that! Someone should stop them from doing bad things."

None of the Arcobaleno look at each other, all silently agreeing with Tsunayoshi's statement. The Estraneo were being hunted due to some of their creations. It might actually be a good idea of they were destroyed.

Tsunayoshi looks around the room, noticing how no one will make eye contact with him. "Fine then!" He says, standing up and stomping his foot. "If you won't save them, then I will!" He shouts. He runs under the table dodging grabbing hands- it was amazing how fast Tsunayoshi's body could actually move- and through the house to the front door. He doesn't waste time putting shoes on, especially when he was still being chased, instead slamming the door open and running outside. He quickly heaves the gate open before speeding down the street.

The Arcobaleno stop when the gate slams shut behind the defiant boy.

"Che, let's just get this over with." Reborn growls, walking into the armoury to restock his bullets and to strap on a few extra guns.

"Bermuda, we understand if you can't get involved in this," Fon says, watching the others gather their equipment. Bermuda nods as he unchains Colonnello.

"I will be waiting." Bermuda says, "Bring Tsunayoshi back safe." The other Arcobaleno all nod before parading out of the front door and the gate.

* * *

><p>Nebbia watches as Mukuro runs out of the Arcobaleno house and towards the Estraneo gate. He wondered what the boy's plans were.<p>

"Nebbia-sama," says Kiri, also watching the boy. "Are you sure that this is alright." She hadn't been expecting her trip to turn out like this.

"Kufufu~ Of course it will be fine, my dear Kiri. Everything has gone perfectly to plan. I made sure that the boy had easy access to the Possession bullets and even stopped Chibi seeing Sky's memories of our first meeting. The child didn't suspect a thing so the contract went smoothly. I am quite proud of my other self. Even now, I have not managed the feat of possessing out precious Sky. I'm sure the world would be a better place without the Mafia, although Sky has done a good job on his own." Nebbia explains. This world was so entertaining. It was a shame that there were limits on how long one could spend in another world, although his own time was extended by Kiri's- she was capable of spending longer in other worlds than he was.

"I shall return, Nebbia-sama." Kiri says, before covering herself in Mist Flames.

* * *

><p>Mukuro pouted and nearly punched the small black box that was stopping him from returning to the Estraneo. He didn't have a card or a code to get in! No one told experiments these numbers, and Tsunayoshi didn't know either. He spins around when he suddenly hears the clacking of heels against the pavement. He had been concentrating so hard on the box he had forgotten to watch his surroundings.<p>

A lady in a white lab coat walks up to the gate and leans over him to swipe her card along the slot in the black security box. The gate beeps and there is a clunk as the door unlocks itself. She walks over and opens the door. "Well, are you coming in or aren't you?" She asks. Mukuro looks at her suspiciously. Why was she doing this? "You're Verde-sama's pet right? You want to see those four experiments he has been attending to?" Tsunayoshi nods and follows the lady inside.

The lady doesn't ask any more questions, or say anything else for that matter, as they walk through the corridors of the house and down the stairs into the main laboratories. She escorts him all the way to the room where the others are. "The code to get back out is 1095."

Before Tsunayoshi can ask why she's given him that number, she had walked away.

Whilst still suspicious, Tsunayoshi enters the room. He places a box in the way of the door before trying the number she had given him. The lights on top of the box changed from red to green and a quiet click was heard- with the door still open it didn't actually do anything. He leaves the box in the doorway just in case. Next, he climbs a different box to jump and grab the keys to the other's cells.

"You're back." Chikusa says when Tsunayoshi finally turns around.

Tsunayoshi smirks as he unlocks the other boy's cell. "Kufufufu~ Of course I am. I couldn't leave you all here while I had some fun." He says happily.

"So we're really gonna do it?" asks Ken, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Yes. Today is the day that the Estraneo is destroyed." Tsunayoshi announces, his voice sounding very different from usual. "I suspect that the Arcobaleno shall be along shortly to help us. Even if they only come to protect their dear little angel, the results shall be the same."

"YIPPEE! FREEDOM!" Ken shouts loudly, throwing his hands into the air. It was high time they got out of here. "Lion Channel!" He inserts the pair of teeth containing the Lion DNA and shivers as the change takes place. The Lion face appears on his cheek, his hands gain claws and his fangs grow longer. With the change compete, he lets out a roar. "GRROOOAAWWW!"

The last cell to be unlocked is Chrome's. Tsunayoshi picks her and the Mukuowl plushie up and carries her into his own cell, placing her next to his real body. "Chrome, you have a very important job. I want you to stay here and protect my body. I'd imagine that this will be the first place the Arcobaleno look, so someone should come and look after you soon. But do you think you can handle it until they get here?" He asks her gently. She hadn't mastered walking yet, so there was no way she could run around the laboratories to help them. It wasn't fair nor very safe to make her crawl around.

"Yes. Stay safe. Come back." She says, looking at him in the eyes.

Tsunayoshi smiles and ruffles her hair. "Of course my lovely Chrome. I will make sure that we come back to you." He promises. He then turns to the two males. "Come then. Let us begin.

* * *

><p>"I have finished Nebbia-sama." Kiri says, finding him in the main foyer of the underground laboratories.<p>

Nebbia laughs. "Oya oya, that was your plan? Although I suppose it shall suffice for now."

In fact, all Kiri had done was let the boy in, tell him the code to get back out and then open every door in the facility. This way the children would have no problems getting from place to place… or person to person.

"Are you staying here?" She asks. He had sat down on an office chair, legs crossed, looking comfortable.

"Yes, I am. I am here merely to lend a _small_ helping hand, and to observe the proceedings. I wouldn't miss the chance to see the Estraneo pounded into a bloody pulp again. And I don't want to ruin my alternate self's fun now." Here he laughs once again, a satisfied laugh that Kiri doesn't like the sound of. She would have said something about Nebbia-sama's wish to see the destruction again, but after actually seeing the Family, she didn't think she could anymore. "It is not a lot different from what you were planning is it?" He asks her.

Kiri shakes her head. "No. All I had planned was to help them escape during whatever plan they had created. I had hoped to lessen the bloodshed and killing that way. But it seems that this is not possible. I did not realise that your other self would choose a path of murder too. But I shall not interfere, Sky said that we shouldn't do anything to change this world too drastically if we ever did come here with him. So if this is the destined form of your escape then I cannot stop it. I believe it makes you who you are today."

Nebbia makes an agreeing sound. It seemed that Sky's words and philosophies had entered her head more than he thought they had. Her desire to not kill, like Sky, was one of the main things stopping her from becoming his perfect solider.

A scream cuts through the newly formed silence. Both adults turn their heads towards the source of the noise.

"Oya, seems like the fun has begun."

* * *

><p>When the Arcobaleno finally enter the scene, it is to the sound of guns, screams, shouts and animalistic roars. The Arcobaleno could imagine what was going on further inside. Mukuro would be using his illusions to scare his victims, to make them faint or freeze before finishing them off. Ken, the source of the animalistic roars, would be using… the lion channel if the roar was anything to go by, to attack in a more direct manner. The final one, Chikusa, would be slowly poisoning his targets, according to Verde. Verde had not had time to make a cure to this poison yet, never having gotten his hands on a sample.<p>

"Luce, go and find Chrome and look after her. Viper said she can't walk yet and I doubt that Mukuro would be burdened down by carrying her." Reborn orders, his gun shooting at the Mafioso flooding in from the upstairs house. "Luce? Luce?" He shouts when he doesn't get an answer.

He takes a look around him- still shooting, the doorway wasn't that big after all- to see if he can find the errant woman.

"I haven't seen Luce since we left the house." Lal comments, taking the pin out of a grenade before rolling it into an empty laboratory.

Reborn clicks his tongue, annoyed that she had gone off by herself again. It was dangerous for her to be alone in this type of environment. Reborn didn't deny that she could protect herself, but if she happened to get a vision right in the middle of it all, she was a sitting duck.

"Fine then." He would send Viper since the girl already knew Viper and wouldn't get scared by her, but since Viper was off with the Varia at the moment, she wasn't here either. "Skull, you go and find her. Take her out of here and back to the house." Skull looked at Reborn indignantly, sure that Reborn was just trying to get him out of the way. He could fight just as well as any of them, thank you very much. "She's Tsunayoshi's friend. He wouldn't be happy if she got hurt." Reborn finally says.

"Haha! There's no one better at protecting than me!" Skull shouts, before running off down a corridor. The rest couldn't deny that statement. Verde sighs and shouts directions after the enthusiastic stuntman.

"Hey Verde, don't worry about that idiot, kora! Come here and tell me if I can blow this one up to smithereens." Colonnello shouts from down a different corridor.

The Arcobaleno were going through the place systematically, destroying the Estraneo laboratories and experiment rooms to stop the Family from ever repeating their mistakes, and to stop anyone else finding them. Of course, some chemicals were very explosive, so Verde had to check everything to make sure that the Arcobaleno weren't going to kill themselves first.

Verde went through the room, idly taking a look at the papers to see what other insane things the Estraneo were planning. This room seemed to be one dedicated to human experimentation due to the equipment in the room. Verde lifted one bottle, turning it to read it's label. Nope, nothing explosive. As he puts the bottle down he looks at the paper it was sat on. What was…

The lights in the room and the surrounding area dim, glow painfully bright, and then explode altogether. This surprises the others.

"Is everyone unharmed?" asks Fon, wiping broken glass from his robes. There is a chorus of 'yes' from the others. "Does anyone know the cause? Did the children hit the electric box or something?"

"No." says Verde, voice calm and even. "It was me." The others look at him weirdly in the dim lighting of touches. Why had Verde done that? He looked and sounded fine and there hadn't been any people in that room. "Get Bermuda in here." He orders, throwing the file at Reborn. Now the others are really interested in what Verde found.

Reborn opens the file, Leon turning into a lamp for him to read with.

'_He didn't know that I wasn't one of their experiments, even if they want me to be.'_

Reborn had found that sentence odd when Tsunayoshi had spoken it earlier, but he had never asked the boy what he had meant. But now he knew. The file contained the plans for an experiment with Tsunayoshi as its subject. The Estraneo must truly be mad to even consider using Tsunayoshi as a lab rat. Before, their attack on the Estraneo had been because it would make Tsunayoshi feel better. But now, **now,** it was personal. Reborn hadn't changed diapers, been vomited on and been ordered around by a brat for 5 years for him to be used and most likely die by the hands of scum like these.

Reborn threw the file at the others, giving Leon time to change form and dial Bermuda's number. Bermuda is standing next to Reborn in less than a second after the call ends.

"They have finally broken one of the Mafia Rules." He says in his haughty tone. "After extensive research, it had been decided that the Estraneo are too powerful and are playing unfairly. They must be eliminated." Which basically meant that he wasn't breaking one of his own rules- he was quite a stickler for rules.

Colonnello grins, pulling the pin out of a grenade with his teeth before destroying the room that file had just come out of. Oh the Estraneo had picked the wrong people to even consider messing with.

* * *

><p>Mukuro laughed and laughed and laughed. He didn't care that it sounded insane, especially in Tsunayoshi's voice. He didn't care about the voice screaming at him in the back of his head. He didn't care about anything of it. The scientists of the Estraneo were falling like flies under his power. Most of them were scientists, and therefore unarmed. The actual Mafioso, the assassins and killers, were all in Italy, doing their missions, destroying the enemies of the Family, conducting trades and other deplorable activities. Mafia Row was a safe place with no violence, there was no need of fighters here, just those smart scientists that needed protecting. Even the ones who had weapons, or took them from fallen comrades were no match to him and his power. The very power these scientists themselves had given him.<p>

"_St-p… M-k-r, s-o-… K-ll-ng is b-d… Mu-ro!"_

It was so ironic that Mukuro couldn't stop laughing as he swung his trident once more, his cow print pyjamas becoming redder and redder by the second.

"Kufufu, so Father, do you like how Experiment Number 69 has turned out? Was it to your expectations? Better? Do you regret throwing me in with the rest of the children? Or maybe you are proud of me? Maybe this example of my power makes you glad to be the father of the strongest killer the Estraneo has ever seen." Another slash, another swipe, another splatter of blood.

More screams and shouts can be heard, along with another roar from Ken. "Aren't you proud of the three of us? Your pet projects, the Salvation of the Estraneo. Well, kufufufu, find your salvation in death." There is one final spray of red before Mukuro turns and walks away.

"How troublesome." Chikusa says, flicking his yo-yo in the direction of the door way. After a few seconds, a corpse falls into the room covered in the poisonous needles Chikusa used.

Mukuro nods in his direction before walking away and down a different corridor, Chikusa following behind. He encounters a room with some of the scientists in it, all huddling in the corner.

"Oya oya, what do we have here? We can't let you miss out on all the fun, kufufufu." He laughs, spinning his trident in his hand. He recognised a few of these faces, some of them had had a hand in his own experiments. "First Path: Path of Hell." The Scientists scream as zombie corpses walk towards them. Mukuro didn't know what they were scared of, he knew for a fact that some of the children here had ended up in similar states.

He would send every last member of the Estraneo to Hell. He'd make sure of it.

* * *

><p><strong>Now I know that it seems that I might have taken this too far. But remember that Mukuro really did kill all of the Estraneo in a single night, by himself, when he was roughly this age. I'm just making up the details; we are never told what actually happens there since we see it from Ken and Chikusa's POV when Mukuro saves them. <strong>

**Join me next time where we see more from Tsunayoshi (err… the real one).**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 03 February 2013**


	77. Reject the hand dealt out by fate

Chapter 77:

Reject the hand dealt out by fate

**So before we get onto the story, there's a small favour I'd like you to do for me and a very close friend of mine. I know it's weird and I know some of you won't understand because it's in Polish (I don't understand Polish either), but...**

** www. face book (dot com forward slash) questions / 520781404611871 /**

**PLEASE, pass it on! This is a survey of a Polish manga publisher, JPF, and if KHR wins, they will translate and publish it in Poland! And I'm sure you'll all agree with me that everyone deserves to read the awesomeness that is KHR. **

**Thank you very much *bows***

* * *

><p>There was something wrong.<p>

He hadn't been hit by anything, the gun wasn't even pointing his way. Yet something had happened. Tsunayoshi knew that this space wasn't normal, it wasn't supposed to occur. But he didn't really care about himself at the moment, he was more worried about Mukuro. No matter the amount of shouting, no one had answered him. He didn't have the time to be here. He needed to check on Mukuro. He wanted out. Out, out, out!

After a little exploration of the indigo mist, he had found a barrier, like see-through glass randomly sat there. It was the only such object he had found so far; no matter which direction he ran, he didn't find another one. So in his desperation to escape from here, the pure need to check up on his friend, he started to pound against the glass. He was in a state, in a panic with fear and worry. No matter what, he needed to get out of here.

He feels that hot burning feeling again, at its hottest around his hands and forehead. But he didn't have time to worry about it. He'd continue on even if the pain was released and kicked up another notch like the last time he had felt like this. Although last time the burning had gone from being on the inside to being on the outside, he had become a lot stronger. He had beaten that adult, the one that had wanted to kill the Arcobaleno. So maybe this burning was a good thing? Maybe he should try to get the burning on the outside again? Although he had no clue how this hot flame had gotten to the outside in the first place.

Hmm… Something had hit his forehead if he remembered correctly. Tsunayoshi looks around before frowning. Well there was _nothing_ here. Not even a rock he could throw at himself. Maybe he could flick his forehead like Lal did sometimes? Those hurt a lot actually. But at this point in time, Tsunayoshi was willing to try anything to get out of here. So he brings his hand up to his forehead and gives himself a flick. _Ouch_. But nothing happens. The burning was still on the inside, not the outside. He rubs the spot he had flicked. He puts one finger against his forehead in a thinking gesture like Verde did sometimes. _Think, think, think._ He says to himself, tapping in time with each word. _Flame, flame, flame_… flame? Tsunayoshi looks up when something clicked and the hot hot feeling was suddenly on the outside of his forehead and concentrated on that pointing finger.

He pulls his finger away and stares at it in awe. There was a bright orange Flame flickering on the end of his finger. Tsunayoshi knew that this orange colour was right- it was the same orange that represented him and Luce and Xanxus and Dino and Byakuran and Nono and a few others. He knew from previous pictures and feeling that this flame was supposed to sit on his hands. He slowly pokes at the flame, mouth dropping as that finger too lights up. He repeats the process, watching finger after finger gain a pure orange flame. On some whim he claps, and suddenly his whole hands were covered.

He looks up and stares at the wall in defiance. He was stronger now, he knew, and he wasn't going to let this invisible wall stand in his way anymore! The purple mist got thicker and thicker around him, but Tsunayoshi ignored it in favour of slamming his fiery fists against the barrier. The whole world around him rocks and shudders, but Tsunayoshi keeps on going. Slam after slam, shudder after shudder Tsunayoshi kept on going in determination. The Arcobaleno had taught him the importance of never giving up. He **was** going to get out of here. He **was** going to see Mukuro again. He **was** going to help his friend!

With a shout, Tsunayoshi head-butts the glass partition.

It cracks. A small piece of purple glass falls through the black air. Tsunayoshi looks at the place where the fragment had come from. And there was a small hole filled with colour. He carefully looks through it, mindful of the cracked shards and the billowing mist rising up around him. And through the hole he sees…

… The hallway of the Arcobaleno house, the one with all the bedrooms on it. He's panting and laughing and he can hear Luce doing her scary not-shouting talking. Skull screams something about being sorry for eating all the cake. His vision swings without his consent and suddenly he's looking back at Luce who had The Bag in her hand. Well, that cake had been very yummy, he wasn't sorry if he had eaten it all, although he hoped he had saved a piece for Viper.

Suddenly his vision changes again and he thinks he's being picked up. Ah yes, Bermuda was playing a video game with him. But the weird thing is, he doesn't have control of his body. It's almost as if someone else has control over it. And whoever had control had obviously never played a video game before!

"No, no! You can't jump on enemies with spikey hats!"

The atmosphere inside the blackness changes slightly. The mist thickens and moves on its own, without the wind. The whole area suddenly seems more… occupied.

"_Oya, oya? Tsunayoshi?"_

That was Mukuro's voice!

"Yes, Mukuro, it's me. Are you alright?" Tsunayoshi shouts, finally glad to hear his friend's voice.

"_Why of course I am Tsunayoshi. Although I didn't think I'd be able to speak with you. No one mentioned this when talking about the possession bullet."_ Mukuro mused, hands still moving the controller in the real world.

"Possession Bullet? Is that what was in the fancy gun? And what's possession? Verde hasn't taught me that word yet." Asks Tsunayoshi curiously. Verde would be so proud that he had learnt a new word.

"_Kufufufu, possession is what is happening now. I am 'possessing' your body; basically my mind is inside your body. I am controlling it, making it move. Anyone who sees me assumes that they are looking at and talking to you."_ Mukuro explains. He had to wonder why no one mentioned that the bullet did this. Little did he know that the bullet was not supposed to do this, it was purely down to Tsunayoshi's Sky Flames and powerful Will that he was still around.

"Hmm, that would explain why I can see my own hands infront of me and see them infront of me through the crack." Supposes Tsunayoshi, you weren't supposed to be able to see your hands twice were you?

But suddenly he gets tired and his hands no longer glow.

"_Tsunayoshi?"_ asks Mukuro.

The hot feeling cools and suddenly it's so very hard to keep his eyes open. He keeps them open long enough to see more of the hole chip away and fall to the ground. But despite how confused he was, he couldn't help but fall asleep again.

* * *

><p>When Tsunayoshi next wakes up, it's with a lurch and a gasping breath. Danger! He was in danger. But <em>of course<em> there is nothing with in his immediate view. Just black and purple as usual. He spins and looks through the hole in the wall. All he could see was a different shade of black. Something told him that it was currently night time, so Mukuro must have his eyes closed.

"Mukuro! Wake up! Something's wrong! Mukuro!"

But again Mukuro pays him no attention, most likely from being asleep. He had to get Mukuro to wake up though. He knew this feeling, someone had a gun pointed at him. All three of the main firearm owners in the house tested his reaction times every now and again, walking into a room whilst he was asleep like this and pointing a gun at him. It was supposed to be training against assassins, but Tsunayoshi reckoned that they just couldn't sleep and were bored.

But if he, or Mukuro, didn't react pretty soon, then Reborn (it was most likely Reborn, still pumped up on adrenaline from a mission and unable to sleep, he guessed) really would shoot him, or smack him with a Leon hammer, which was probably worse. He tried to bring back the fire again, that seemed to make things happen. But it didn't come. He didn't feel the burning sensation under his skin anymore either. He tried though, but each attempt just made him more and more tired once again.

Although Tsunayoshi let sleep come this time. He knew that none of the Arcobaleno would hurt him. If push came to shove, whoever he had ended up sleeping with would pull him out of the way in time. He trusted them all. He would be safe.

* * *

><p>"<em>Tsunayoshi…. Tsunayoshi."<em>

Tsunayoshi groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore that voice, he wanted to go back to sleep.

"_Tsunayoshi, do you know the code to get into the Estraneo?"_

That snaps him back awake. They were going back to the Estraneo? Why?

"Umm… No, I don't. Verde has a card that he swipes across that box and then the gate opens for him. Verde doesn't have to enter a code." Tsunayoshi answers truthfully. He can feel Mukuro's annoyance in the air around him.

"_There has to be some way in."_ Mukuro mutters, _"Hmm? Who's that?"_ Tsunayoshi distinctly feels Mukuro's presence leave the area. He must not be talking to him anymore.

Tsunayoshi stands, stretching the kinks out of his body after sleeping on the floor. It's then that he notices that his body doesn't hurt like last time the burning fire had been let free. Maybe it was because of this space he was in? Dismissing those thoughts, Tsunayoshi walks across to the hole in the barrier and looks through. Eh? Wasn't that… it was! That was Adult Chrome! She was disguised, but he was sure that was her. If Mukuro was listening to him, Tsunayoshi would have told him.

But what was she doing here?

* * *

><p>When Mukuro had talked to Ken and Chikusa about destroying the Estraneo, Tsunayoshi was slightly concerned. When the first scientist had been killed, Tsunayoshi was scared and worried, but he let it slide, calling it self-defence or something. But when scientist after scientist fell to the ground and never got back up, it terrified Tsunayoshi. He had never seen so much red blood in his life- not that time the robot had hurt Verde's shoulder, not that time he had gone on a mission with Reborn and seen killing for the first time, not even when the Arco Iris had taken him. It was almost like paint with the way it coated the walls.<p>

There was lots of screaming too. People, scientists and men in suits, were coming towards him. But then suddenly their faces would change, forming expressions of terror, before they looked in different directions and started pointing at things that weren't there. Tsunayoshi had seen Viper work enough times to know when an illusion he couldn't see was being used. Although he had no clue what illusions Mukuro was making these people see to make them scream like that. From his experience, adults didn't scream like that often.

"M-mm-Mukuro… ssstop…" He whispers, shuddering.

On odd occasions he could see Ken and Chikusa too, both covered in the red paint.

"Ken, stop it. Your claws don't look good coloured like that."

"Chikusa, that yo-yo is only supposed to go up and down. D-didn't you k-know that?"

Slowly one by one, the Estraneo members were falling. They were dying.

"NO STOP IT!" Tsunayoshi roars, slamming his hands against the barrier infront of him. "Why are you killing them? You know they won't get back up again right? You'll never see that person again if you kill them!" He shouts, trying to warn the three about what they were doing.

"Mukuro, stop it! That woman is crying and begging you. Mukuro don't kill her!" Tears pour down his face. Why wasn't Mukuro listening to him? Why was Mukuro laughing?

"Stop! Mukuro, Stop! Killing is bad! Mukuro!" But on and on Mukuro's trident moved. It just didn't stop, red droplets flying into the air, shouts following the slapping of metal against skin.

"_Kufufufu, so Father… like how Experiment Number 69… to your expectations? Do you regret…? …This example of my power makes you glad to be the father of the strongest killer the Estraneo has ever seen… Well, Kufufufu, find your salvation in death."_

No, what was Mukuro doing? No Mukuro stop, that's… No Mukuro you can't, not to him!

Tsunayoshi collapses to the floor, hugging his knees. Mukuro had just killed his father. That was like him killing Reborn, or Colonnello, Fon, Skull, Verde or Bermuda. He could never EVER kill one of them. But Mukuro had just done so, knew that that attack would kill him, wound send him to death. And he had laughed. He had looked at the blood on his hands… on _His_ hands… Those weren't Mukuro's hands but his own. Mukuro was going around killing people in his body.

Tsunayoshi stares at his hands through the tears. So these hands were just as capable as anybody else's hands at killing. Although Tsunayoshi supposed he already knew that. He was the son of the nine strongest people in the Mafia, of course his hands could kill. Because here in the Mafia…

**Killing was normal.**

_"So this is what you do? What you and Lal and Colonnello and Fon and Viper and Bermuda and Luce do? That was killing?" Tsunayoshi asks in a monotone voice._

_"That's right. I killed them. They won't get up again, they won't talk or smile or anything else ever again. They also won't hurt anyone again." Reborn states, knowing Tsunayoshi needed the truth right now._

_"I-it's what had to be done, right?" asks Tsunayoshi, finally willingly meeting Reborn's eyes to get his answers. "There wasn't any other way?"_

Mukuro had suffered at the hands of these people. Ken, Chikusa, Chrome and countless other children had been put through so much pain because of these people. Mukuro was just making it so that they could never harm anyone else ever again, just like Reborn had said.

_"J-just promise me…" Tsunayoshi starts. Reborn doesn't say anything or even move until Tsunayoshi continues on. "That you'll only kill people who deserve it. The only people to disappear are people who you have too. Okay? I-I understand that you kill to keep me and the others safe. I d-don't like it, not at all. But you have to, right?"_

Mukuro had to. He was keeping the others safe. Tsunayoshi hated it, hated watching as people's eyes clouded over, lost their shine, as people stopped moving, stopped screaming, stopped breathing. But it was what needed to be done. Tsunayoshi knew that everyone on Mafia Row hated the Estraneo for some reason. Apparently they didn't play fairly, or did really mean things that even Mafioso wouldn't do. The Estraneo crossed a line that they shouldn't. That was why in the world outside of Mafia Row, the Estraneo were hunted and killed on sight.

Only people who deserved to be killed should die… and by almost anyone's standards, the Estraneo deserved to die.

To keep everyone happy.

To keep everyone from being hurt.

Because saving the majority was more important.

Because **family** came first.

* * *

><p><strong>Phantom Hitman 1412<strong>

**First Published 07 February 2013**


	78. And Reach for the Happy Ending

Chapter 78:

And Reach For the Happy Ending

Mukuro looks around him, smiling at the carnage. There were just a few more levels left before he had eradicated the Estraneo's main base. He stumbles slightly, his vision wavering. There were more people here than he had imagined and his power was running slightly low. Possessing Tsunayoshi took more Flames than he had realised. Checking that there were no people around him, he slumps against a wall before closing his eyes, pulling on his connection with Chrome. Despite how low his Flames would get, he would make sure to always have enough to sustain her.

She was the victim here, just as much as any of them were, and as such she deserved her own chance at revenge. She may not be capable of taking revenge with her own hands- the Estraneo's previous assassin training had proven that- but that didn't mean she should be excluded from the fun. He lets out a soft sigh as he feels her own Flames sustaining his own, bringing him back to power once more. With her Flames fuelling him now, this would be her share of the revenge, as Mukuro liked to think of it. (Chrome didn't see it that way, she just wanted to help him.)

He quickly descends the stairs to a lower level before looking around the room. A quick flash of movement catches his eyes. Shrugging his shoulders, he decides that he might as well go that way. No Estraneo Scientist was going to escape his wrath.

* * *

><p>Kiri looked around herself, feeling pity for the scene presented. Feeling saddened by the sight, she tightens her grip on Nebbia-sama's hand. It had been self-pity that had driven her to come to this dimension in the first place, her horror at being told a child version of herself was stuck in Nebbia-sama's personal hell. But her plan had never been this. Perhaps she was naive, perhaps she didn't want to believe that her picture of Nebbia-sama was cleaner than it actually should be. She had been belittling the facts given to her, and now she regretted it. For she no longer held just self pity, but pity for all three of the Estraneo experiments too.<p>

Her plan had been to sneak in here, wait for them to plan an escape so she didn't alter the timeline too much and then unlock their cells and the doors leading to freedom, to help them all escape. She'd help them find a new home without being seen, make sure that they weren't attacked along the way, that they always had food and water, just someone keeping an eye on them as they followed out their own plans. She had never expected to be here, following Nebbia-sama as he led his alternate self on a Scientist-hunt. They had already interfered a few times, Nebbia-sama killing a few of the stronger Mafioso, removing weapons from people's hands, using illusions to scare them in the children's direction.

It seemed to her that Nebbia-sama was having fun watching the downfall of the Estraneo for a second time. She supposed it was the whole reason he even bothered to chase after her and come here. She didn't like being here though, a part of her wanted to press the button on her watch and disappear from here totally. But she knew that she couldn't do that. She had been here from the start and had a duty to watch it through to the end. Plus she had to make sure that Nebbia-sama didn't go overboard and change this dimension in his excitement. He wouldn't care if he did, but she knew that Sky wouldn't be very happy.

* * *

><p>"Wolf Channel!" A low growl escapes Ken's lips after the change is complete. He stretches and does a fully body shake, getting used to the new form his body had taken. He gets down on all fours, sniffing the ground around him. The wolf channel had a heightened sense of smell, as well as a nice set of sharp claws and teeth. No scientist was going to escape from his nose. He'd sniff them all out!<p>

He runs down some corridors, following the strong scent of fear that only came from living humans. He kicks down a door, before jumping and letting out a terrifying howl as he leapt into the room.

"Idiot."

Ken pouts and puts his hands down when he finds that Chikusa was already in the room, literally having just finished off the Estraneo members he had smelt before.

"Hey! I was going after them Byon. Those were my prey not yours!" He stamps his foot to show his discontentment.

Chikusa rolls his eyes before exiting the room through the door Ken had just opened. "Too slow. Not that it matters." Neither of them were here for a killing contest after all. They were here to earn their freedom and to lay down justice. No one was ever going to be treated like they had been by the Estraneo ever again. (And secretly, they liked the idea of being the _only_ super-humans around.)

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh what?" Ken growls in annoyance. Trust Chikusa to ruin the mood. "Are the scientists too hard for you to handle? Move over, I'll deal with them!" He turns around, ready to push Chikusa out of the way and take the glory for himself.

But then he finds the real reason for Chikusa's remark.

Chikusa was dangling from Fon's hand, his twin yoyo's in the man's other hand.

Ken tilts his head to the side in an animalistic gesture of confusion. Hadn't Mukuro said that the Arcobaleno were here to help them? Then he spots the blond male- Tsunayoshi had called him Colonnello, Ken was sure- roll something metal into one of the rooms. Within a few seconds there is a boom, smoke pouring out of the doorway along with lots of dust. The building around them shakes. Ah, so that's what had been causing the tremors.

Ken smiles smugly. Why hadn't he thought of destroying the rooms too? Walking out of the door, he starts to decide where to go next. Down those stairs seemed like a good option. He is stopped however, when someone picks him up by the back of his shirt.

"Hold it, mutt." The woman- Lal if he remembers correctly- orders. "You're coming with us." Ken whines in protest before wiggling around, trying to swipe at her hand to make her let go. She doesn't drop him, instead giving him a harsh shake. Ken blinks for a few seconds, getting over the dizziness before attempting to break free again. This time he stops when his hearing picks up a click and cold metal brushes against his hair. A gun. "You're coming with us whether you like it or not. So if I were you I'd settle down and go along for the ride, or else you'll see that Tsunayoshi's stories of getting shot at aren't stories but the truth."

So Ken, for once in his life, shut up and went with the flow.

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi had decided to stop shouting at Mukuro. Instead he was sitting with his back against the wall, not looking anywhere near the hole that showed him the real world. He had his eyes scrunched closed, his hands over his ears to block out the sounds of the screaming and laughter. It wasn't really working, he could still hear everything. He wished that Viper was here, she was good at cancelling out noises, at blocking out all the scary stuff.<p>

He sniffs back some tears before taking a look around, in the vain hope that she was here somewhere. He doesn't find Viper. Instead he finds a door. A door that wasn't there before. He blinks a few times, and yes, the door was still there. He gets up and walks across to the white door. He wondered whether he should open it. Although anywhere was better than here with the sounds of Mukuro's rampage still clear. Quickly grabbing the door handle, he gives it a turn and pushes open the door, stumbling inside.

The bright light blinds him for a moment, the black misty place had been very dark, especially in contrast to this. When he can finally see again, it's almost as if he's been transported somewhere else. He's on a warm grassy plane, there are some trees around and the sun is shining brightly. It seems very peaceful and calm. Finally he notices someone sat in the middle of this place.

"Chrome!" He shouts, running forwards.

Chrome, dressed in a white dress, looks up at him, a look of shock on her face. However, she immediately looks back down at her hands. In those hands was a ball of indigo wool. She was very carefully unravelling the string from the ball. The string led away from her, across the vibrant grass and through a partly opened door, this one a dark dirty purple. She half looks in Tsunayoshi's direction when the boy makes it to her position, showing that she was listening, yet had most of her concentration still on the ball of wool.

"Chrome, what is this place? Why are you here?" Tsunayoshi asks. If he was where he thought he was- ie, inside his head- then Chrome shouldn't be here.

Chrome quite calmly replies, "Inside my head.", as if that was a perfectly normal answer. "Mukuro and I meet here." She explains.

Tsunayoshi nods, not really getting it, but it must have made sense to Chrome. Instead, he asks, "What's that?" pointing towards the ball of wool.

"My Flame." She replies. "I'm giving it to Mukuro." She points towards the door where the string led to. "Flames are easy to control within your head."

Tsunayoshi looks up at the clear blue sky, pondering that information. It would explain why that Fire on his head and hands had come easier than usual. It would also explain why his body hadn't hurt after using it like it had done the last time.

The door across from them shook and opened slightly further, a loud scream tearing at the peace of the grassy plane. Chrome shivers, curling up slightly, but still continues to pull out lengths of string.

Tsunayoshi looks at Chrome before looking at the doorway with renewed determination. "Mukuro is that way, right?" He asks, pointing towards the door.

Chrome nods carefully. "Yes. But it's scary there." It was the main reason she was here and not in there with him. Her eyes widen when she sees Tsunayoshi walking towards it. "No. You can't!"

Tsunayoshi turns around and gives a gentle smile at Chrome. "Don't worry. We're friends forever right?" He holds up the finger that Mukuro had cut earlier on. "And friends always help each other out. So I'm going to help him."

Chrome stares at him for a few moments. The door rattles again- a sign of Mukuro using an illusion- before a begging plea comes through the door. Looking down at the ball of wool in her hands, she gives it a harder tug. This time the string was thicker. "Help you find him." She explains, giving another harsh tug.

Tsunayoshi smiles at her again, watching the thicker string move past his feet and through the open door. "Thank you Chrome."

Stepping through the door, Tsunayoshi is plunged into darkness once more. The mist rose up high above his head, looking like eerie clouds on a moonlit night. He steps forwards, grabbing Chrome's bright string and following its lead- he didn't want to get lost here. And he is sure this place is like a maze. As he walks onwards, the path through the walls of mist twists and turns. Sometimes he is sure that he's going back on himself, returning in the direction of Chrome's door. But the bright white door never makes a reappearance. He wondered whether Mukuro was lost in this maze too.

Eventually he sees a dark figure in the mist, the string leading right up to it and wrapping itself around the figure's trident. As Tsunayoshi gets closer, he confirms that it is Mukuro.

"Kufufufu, kufufufufufufu, kufufu! Finally! Finally the Estraneo have fallen." He laughs.

Tsunayoshi doesn't like the sound of that laughter. It didn't sound like Mukuro's usual dark chuckle. Instead it sounded scary, insane, broken.

Tsunayoshi rushes up to Mukuro and hugs him tightly from behind. "Mukuro! You can stop fighting now!" He can feel Mukuro stiffen. "Please, you can stop now Mukuro." Tsunayoshi pleads in a quiet whisper. "The Estraneo can't hurt you anymore, I know the Arcobaleno will make sure that none of them are left, so please Mukuro, stop." He was sure that the Arcobaleno would stop the Estraneo, either by locking them away in Bermuda's prison, or by… killing them. And if they hadn't locked the naughty naughty Estraneo away, then Tsunayoshi would throw _so_ many tantrums and cry and cry and pull _every_ puppy-dog expression in his arsenal until they did.

"Stop? Why should I stop?" Mukuro asks, voice cold and dark. "After what they did to me, to us, why should I stop! The Estraneo Famiglia, soon to be the world's strongest Family, rulers of the Mafia, or even the world. Together we'd have the world at our feet, never wanting for anything, living in comfort. Well some Hell-damned Family they turned out to be! Do you know what it's like for your father to throw you away as if he doesn't care about you? Do you know what it's like to relive all of your past lives? Sure the Path of Hell, of Demons and Hungry Ghosts sound cool, but have they ever been there, known what it's like? Did they ever stop to think that living through 6 lives also means living through 6 deaths too? I didn't see any one of my _family_ go down a Path themselves to test the technique."

Mukuro breaths heavily after his outburst, wondering why on earth he had said such things. Although it felt good to finally say these things out loud. How saying something verbally instead of mentally made a difference, he didn't know, but it did. "Family is such a stupid meaningless word. It's a word that means you have to do things other people want you to, just because. It's just another way to leash someone to you. The word Family doesn't mean anything to me. If the Estraneo and that man calling himself my father are _family_ then I don't want one."

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Tsunayoshi shouts, spinning Mukuro around. Mukuro looks at the boy shocked. He had never seen Tsunayoshi look so angry before. "It's true that no one died 6 times like you did, but Chrome almost did. Every time you got a new power, your Flames cut out and that left Chrome to fend for herself. Chikusa said that she got really ill during those times, coughing up blood and everything. Don't you think she's been through that enough times to count? You're not the only one hurt. You know that it really hurts Ken to make his body be like an animal's each time, but he still does it anyway! Chikusa's even lost some of his emotions and expressions because of it. They may not have gone through the same thing you did, but they have still been hurt by the Estraneo too. And THEY are your family because they never left you, and helped you through it and gave you lots of love and everything. If you don't want the Estraneo to be your family then fine, they aren't around anymore anyway. But don't you dare say you don't have a family when Chrome and Chikusa and Ken are out there fighting to help you."

Tsunayoshi keeps on looking up at Mukuro, face set and determined, eyes shining.

"You need to stop Mukuro. You should stop and go look after them. They are hurting just as much as you are. I know that the Estraneo are really mean people, worse than every super villain put together, but not everyone is like that. The Mafia isn't such a bad place once you get used to it."

"Oya? The Mafia? They are just as bad because they did nothing to stop it! Everyone knows what was going on in here yet never once did they try and stop the Estraneo, they just left them alone." Mukuro growls, looking superior and smug once more. He had seen the Path of Humans, he knew how bad everyone really was.

"That's not true. Viper is part of the Mafia and she wasn't happy about it. She did everything she could to help you, even going against the Estraneo and teaching you things she shouldn't. And Verde! He was hurting too. I know he spent lots and lots of nights not sleeping because he was trying to make sure he did your experiments right so you wouldn't die! I know because I sat there and fell asleep in his lab lots of times and in the morning Verde would be in the same place still writing away. And you were there at my birthday party, you know that everyone is actually really nice! And… I'm in the Mafia too, and I'm not bad, am I?" Tsunayoshi grabs Mukuro's sleeve, hoping that Mukuro saw what he was talking about.

"Mukuro, please come home with me. I want to be your family too, and I'm sure that the Arcobaleno are worried about you all. Mukuro, please?"

* * *

><p>Reborn walks down the lower corridors of the Estraneo base, noticing how fewer and fewer bodies were bloodied. Instead the bodies were all frozen with screaming expressions on their faces. His ears pick up the sound of laughter, laughter he knew well, so he follows the noise, coming to an open doorway. Reborn isn't afraid of what he'll find in there, nor is he afraid of being attacked incase the brat thought he was the enemy. Nothing the child could do would faze him.<p>

Striding confidently, he enters the room. Tsunayoshi is standing in the middle of it, no longer laughing anymore once he noticed Reborn.

Reborn walks to stand only a few steps away. He looks Tsunayoshi up and down. After a few moments, he extends his hand. "C'mon brat. Time to go home."

"Ah, there you are Tsunayoshi." Says Bermuda, also walking into the room. "I do believe we are finished here." Before Tsunayoshi can protest, Bermuda had picked him up, opened a black starry portal and stepped through, Reborn following close behind.

Mukuro looks around when they step out, realising they are back in the Arcobaleno house. He finds Ken and Chikusa on the sofa, hot chocolate and cookies in their hands.

"Ah you're back darling," Luce smiles, plucking him out of Bermuda's arms before depositing him- blood soaked clothing and all- onto the sofa, handing him a hot chocolate and cookie too. She sits next to him, smiling gently and stroking his hair. "So how are you feeling? I bet you're relieved that the Estraneo are gone now. The others made sure to get rid of all of their research."

"_See, everyone is really nice, Luce especially and she used to __be__ a Mafia Boss." Tsunayoshi says, smiling at the scene. "Don't go looking for revenge anymore Mukuro. There will always be someone to blame," He knew this to be true, the Arcobaleno were very good at blaming each other for a mistake, going round and round in circles until Luce gave up. "Instead you should just stop and come have some fun! None of us will be mean to any of you and you won't get hurt. Well, I can't promise that, but they won't be mean like the Estraneo did, beating you for nothing."_

"Yeah, no one else will end up like you again." Colonnello says. He had had great fun blowing all those labs up.

Mukuro looks down- he was still in Tsunayoshi's body, so why had Colonnello said that?

The shock must be evident on his face. "We know you aren't actually Tsunayoshi. It's rather obvious." Fon explains gently.

"The attempt was actually a very good one, considering how contrasting your personalities are," Verde says, pushing his glasses up his face before taking a seat.

"But even you can't do the level of sweet Tsunayoshi manages to reach. It's unreal I swear," Lal grumbles. It was as if the kid was made of sugar and rainbows.

"Hey now, let's give him some credit, we did know in advance." Luce says to the others. She turns to face Tsunayoshi. "I had a vision dear, I knew what you were going to do for a while now. But I knew that this was important and needed to happen, so I let you do what you did with Tsunayoshi. But everything is going to be okay now, you can have a happy end, all four of you. So just let Tsunayoshi go, okay?" She smiles sweetly, a hand resting against his cheek.

_Mukuro shakes his head, pushing Tsunayoshi away from him. He would not release Tsunayoshi. He was going to destroy the messed up Mafia and change this stupid world with this body! He pushes the boy closer and closer to the dense walls of mist around them. The boy should get lost in here and never return. _

"_Kufufufu, you want me to be happy? Then let me keep your body and I'll change this hell driven world. You'd want that too, right Tsunayoshi? A world with no more bad people, with no more killing, with no more pain and suffering. A world where our parents don't abandon us, a world where my dearest Chrome's parents don't leave her to die." _

_There is the sound of a door slamming behind them, and both turn to face the newcomer. Chrome pants, gripping her own staff and ball of wool as tightly as possible. "No. Stop it. Give it back." She says, looking at Mukuro straight in the eye. _

"_But Chrome-" Mukuro starts. _

_Chrome shakes her head. "No. Give it back." She practically orders. She slams her staff against the ground, a wave of Flames pushing the mist around them back. She slams the trident again and suddenly the scenery around them changes. Most of the mist leaves, and even if it looks like nothing has changed, Tsunayoshi is sure that they are somehow back in his head. His thoughts are confirmed when he sees the glass barrier to his left, although there are a lot more cracks and holes in it than when he had left earlier. _

_Walking over towards the glass wall, Chrome holds her staff differently before smacking the spiked end into the glass. It cracks, chips of glass falling to the floor. Mukuro looks at her, both confused and angry. _

"_Chrome, stop it. You know what will happen if you break that. You should be helping me, I'm doing this for you after all." She freezes and looks towards him. Mukuro smirks, now he had her. "We can change the world together and make sure that no one else is left to die unloved by their parents." He knows it's a sore point for her, and indeed she flinches. _

_Tsunayoshi doesn't say anything, letting Chrome decide for herself. She doesn't say anything for a long time. _

"_Fine then Mukuro-"_

The door slams open and someone runs inside before kneeling by the child holding his head in pain. The person removes the child's hands, replacing them with their own.

"Fight, god dammit, Tsunayoshi. I am not losing you."

"_-As long as you promise not to hurt any of my friends, and to not hurt any good people…-"_

_The room around them changes, suddenly looking a lot brighter, as if someone turned on another light. It also feels heavier. _

"_-Then you can have my body. That will make you happy? After all, that's what are friends and family for, right?"_

_Lots of things happen after that statement. Mukuro looks at Tsunayoshi, a boy who had just willingly given up his freedom and free will because of something as silly as family. Tsunayoshi smiles the strangest of smiles, a type Mukuro had never seen before. It was as if Tsunayoshi really was happy with the thought that Mukuro would be happy. Which Mukuro found preposterous._

_Chrome finally decided that Mukuro keeping Tsunayoshi like this was a bad thing. She liked Tsunayoshi too much to let this happen to him. Plus, Mukuro was being mean and unfair. So she gathers as many Flames as she can, feeds then into her spiked staff and smacks the glass wall as hard as she can._

_The final thing to happen was for a huge blast of new Flames to hit the glass wall from the other side. _

_Mukuro stares at Tsunayoshi, so confused and dumbfounded by the notions the child was suggesting, by everything Tsunayoshi had said so far, and by his final act of good will, that Mukuro lost his concentration, his grasp on the possession slipping. _

_With an ear splitting chiming crash, the glass wall shatters. _

_Mukuro looks at the glass by his feet for a few moments, watching it disappear into nothingness. He clicks his tongue and waves his hand, the same dirty dark purple door appearing. He pulls it open and slams the door behind himself before it disappears totally. Although Tsunayoshi does have time to notice that it looks less dirty than last time. _

"_You stupid child! Do you know what could have happened if he had finished making a contract with you?! You would have never come back!"_

_Tsunayoshi spins around at the angry voice, surprised to find Viper standing there. She strides across the gap between them, kicking the glass out of her way. She raises a hand, wanting to slap some sense into the errant child. But she doesn't, she can't. Instead she envelops him in a hug. "You stupid child. You stupid, stupid child. Your kindness is going to get you killed one day." _

_Tsunayoshi doesn't know what to say to that. So instead he looks around, noticing that Chrome is gone. So is Chrome's white door. It had disappeared the same time that Mukuro's door had disappeared. She was only connected to Tsunayoshi through her connection to Mukuro. So with Mukuro out of Tsunayoshi's mind, she could no longer be there._

_Viper looks up, whilst still hugging Tsunayoshi, taking in the dark space around her. "It might take a few days for this to return to normal. You've been through a lot of stress recently. If you like I can-"_

"_No." Tsunayoshi says sternly. "I don't want to forget. Even if I did see Mukuro kill people with my hands, I don't want to forget it."_

_Viper sighs at the stubbornness of the child. She stands up, taking his hand. "Fine then, let's go back. I think the others have missed you."_

* * *

><p><strong>Only two more chapters left for this arc!<strong>

**I know that Mukuro is a little out of character here, but I think that as a child, he would be more emotional about these things, almost like he's throwing a temper tantrum. And of course, he's going to be freer with everything since they are in his head, he can't hide anything there. **

**If you have any questions, please ask, I'll either clear them up through a PM or I'll make extra sure that I answer them next chapter. **

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 10 February 2012**


	79. You Desire

Chapter 79:

You Desire

**And here it is, the greatly anticipated answer… Where will Mukuro and Co end up?**

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi blinks. He was so tired… so, so tired.<p>

"Oi, Oi! Stop wriggling or else I'll drop Chrome!"

Tsunayoshi's head perks up. How had he forgotten! He hadn't seen Skull in ages. If he was feeling more energetic he would run and greet the stuntman, but at the moment it's all he can do to remain awake. Luckily though, the other two occupants of the sofa still have more than enough energy to run and almost tackle Skull in their race to see their sister. Skull laughs at the antics of the pair and quickly puts both Chrome and Mukuro (who had been asleep most of the time until he walked through the door) down on the floor. Both Mukuro and Chrome get a thorough check over by the pair, with Ken poking at Mukuro to make sure it was the real one. Mukuro was quick to reassure Ken that he was back in his own body with harsh retaliation to a certain pineapple remark. Ken yelped after the hit and decided that that really was Mukuro.

Skull looked up, still smiling at the children and looks over to Tsunayoshi, glad that the fiasco was over. But he stops and stares at Tsunayoshi. His little boy, all covered in blood. It makes his heart freeze and skip a beat. If it wasn't for his helmet over his face he was sure the others would tell him off for his expression. For Skull was scared of blood. It took a lot of blood to make him sick, but the amount on Tsunayoshi was getting rather close. In his profession, blood meant an accident. It meant broken bones, torn skin, immense pain, a broken motorcycle. It meant a trick gone wrong with possible fatal or life changing consequences. Blood, in this volume, was never a good thing.

He tried to remind himself that most of this blood was most likely not even Tsunayoshi's, but that thought didn't really help. He runs across the room, leaps over the back of the sofa and settles in the seat next to Tsunayoshi, being very careful not to kick Viper during his stunt- he didn't need her placing a curse on him or something. "Tsunayoshi! You're back!" He cries, hugging the life out of the tired boy. It had been rather hard to pretend that Mukuro was Tsunayoshi the whole time, but he had remembered Luce's words and had felt sorry for Mukuro and the others. He believed that they all deserved a chance to be loved by a family, so he had done his best to try and make Mukuro feel like part of the family even if it was for only one day.

"Too tight…" Tsunayoshi wheezes, being crushed by Skull's hug. Skull quickly lets go, apologising profusely in his usual manner. Tsunayoshi smiles at him before turning to the figure before him. "Thank you Viper." He smiles softly, truly thankful for Viper's help, even if in the end he had given up.

Viper stands up and looks down at the child. "You can thank me by paying for my services. I'm warning you, it's going to be double, NO, **triple** my usual rate. It's going to take you years to pay it off."

Tsunayoshi giggles, not fazed by the threat at all. "And that's just to pay the interest off right?" He didn't actually know what Interest was, but he knew that it was something added on top, and however much Viper charged for this 'Interest' was demonically high. But he really didn't mind, for he knew that charging him was actually Viper's way of keeping him around, whether she realised it or not. If he had money to pay, then she would always have a reason to see him.

He blinks at her. "Hey Viper, when did you get back?" There is a moment of released tension in the room at Tsunayoshi's remark.

"The Varia just happened to finish the mission earlier than expected." She replies, walking the few paces to curl up in her favourite armchair. Luce smiles, turning a snort into a cough. They all knew that Viper had rushed here the moment she felt something wrong with Tsunayoshi. No one needed to ask _how_ Viper knew this event had started, she was the world's best ESPer after all. Viper blinks when she suddenly finds a small girl deposited onto her lap. She looks up, noticing the glare Mukuro sent her. She looks back apathetically, she had nothing to say to him.

Ken doesn't notice the tense atmosphere filling the room, instead turning in a circle a few times before curling up infront of the fireplace, letting out a loud yawn. "I'm tired, byon. I'm going to sleep."

Once again his plans are disrupted by the sound of a gun cocking, but this time it's Reborn rather than Lal wielding the weapon. "Don't get comfortable, mutt. Who said you were staying here?" Tsunayoshi was enough, he was not having any more children around the house. Certainly not ones that had done this to His Tsunayoshi. In his opinion, the further away Mukuro was from Tsunayoshi, the better. But he knew the child well, and knew that Tsunayoshi wouldn't allow that.

Bermuda steps forwards, chains with collars chinking in the silence of the room. With resounding clicks they surround the necks of the four Estraneo Experiments. "**Mukuro Rokudo, Ken Joshima, Chikusa Kakimoto and Chrome Dokuro, I am placing all of you under arrest**." He announces, his voice cold and booming. It makes the children, even Tsunayoshi shiver. Even the Arcobaleno don't like that voice- His Vindice Boss Voice.

"Bermuda!" Tsunayoshi gasps, looking between his family and his friends, eyes tracing the chains back and forth. W-Why had Bermuda done that?

"**Silence Tsunayoshi."** Bermuda orders. "**It is my right to take these children into custody. They are experiments, highly powerful and most importantly, unstable. They are a threat and shall be treated accordingly**." The children can't do anything, the collars stopping them from protesting. Neither Mukuro nor Chrome have the Flames left to defend themselves or their brothers, and even if they did, their powers were useless against a Vindice Officer, Mammon had said so.

What Bermuda had said was technically true, these children would easily come under the threat category. But more importantly, he was protecting Tsunayoshi. He wanted these children far away from Tsunayoshi where they could never harm him for a second time. His Tsunayoshi would never be taken advantage of again! Tsunayoshi would eventually forget about them and make new friends instead. There were plenty of other children on this island.

Tsunayoshi slips off of the sofa, nearly tripping and falling as his body doesn't obey him. Everything felt weird, the effects of being possessed still lingering, feeling as if his body isn't entirely his own. None of the Arcobaleno move, and Tsunayoshi catches himself before tottering over towards Bermuda.

He stands before Bermuda, a small blood drenched boy in cow print pyjamas, looking frail and tired, glaring up at the fearsome, powerful Jailer in black and white. The sight was one to behold, one that no one other than the Vindice and Arcobaleno would believe. "NO! That's not right Bermuda and you know it!"

"**Oh? Thou darest to defy me?"** He asks, voice cold, calm and emotionless. Yet the slip of the tongue betrays him.

"Yes I darest to defy thee!" Tsunayoshi shouts right back, not knowing or caring if he was grammatically correct or not, just merely using Bermuda's words back at him. And since he was in an argument with Bermuda, no one could tell him off for it either. Tired out by the shout, he sits down on the floor, crossing his arms and legs in an angry manner, still giving look for look with Bermuda. This change in height just makes the scene ever funnier to watch- or at least the Arcobaleno think so. For anyone other than them, it would make the scene even more amazing and unbelievable. "I promised them that they'd become family and I'm not leaving them." He declares.

The four children look at him incredulously; Tsunayoshi was going against such a scary person for them? In fact, even more amazing was that Tsunayoshi was going against an _Arcobaleno_ for them. Like all residents of Mafia Row, they had been subjected to the Arcobaleno rule: The Arcobaleno always came first. There wasn't anyone in the Row that hadn't had their meeting cut short or dropped altogether because Tsunayoshi was going somewhere with one of the Arcobaleno instead. (Even the Arcobaleno themselves were subjected to this rule, whoever Tsunayoshi had seen the least recently got most of his attention, but he always somehow managed to balance them all out.)

Bermuda was amused by the look in Tsunayoshi's eye, even if deep inside of him he knew where this conversation was eventually heading. "**You shall listen to me for once Tsunayoshi**." Bermuda says. "**I am an adult and I know what's best for you.**"

That made all five children practically growl. Tsunayoshi's eyes harden. "It was adults that were the cause of this to start with. Adults do not always know best."

"**That doesn't matter. These children are coming with me whether you like it or not." **Bermuda waves his hand slightly, the chains clinking against each other, reminding Tsunayoshi of their compromising position.

The look Tsunayoshi puts on next is one all the Arcobaleno recognise. It was his rock solid, defiant, not going to move pout/glare combination. It generally came out when he was arguing about Reborn and Colonnello's treatment of Skull, something neither side would back down about. And true to form Tsunayoshi does something unexpected next. He grabs one of the chains at Bermuda's feet and starts to wrap it around his hands and neck- this was one of Bermuda's omnipresent attacking chains, therefore not having an immobilising collar. "If you're taking them then I'm going too! I'll even-" Tsunayoshi pauses for a second, gathering up the courage to complete his threat. An image flashes across his memory: Mukuro, a lot older, trapped, chained in the watery prison and it scared him so so much. He was going to make sure that Mukuro never ended up there. "I'll even go in the sleeping bath!"

That makes most of the Arcobaleno raise an eyebrow in consideration. Tsunayoshi was deathly afraid of the 'sleeping baths', the water filled prisons that prisoners were kept in. For him to even suggest stepping into one was quite a feat indeed. Tsunayoshi stared Bermuda in the eyes, not breaking eye contact even once. He would not back down!

Luce skips over, picking Tsunayoshi up and hugging him tightly. "Oooh~ Aren't you just the best boy in existence! Looking after them like that~" she coos, swinging from side to side as she hugs him tightly.

Tsunayoshi looks at her seriously when she finally pulls back. "Because Family comes first." He repeats. He had had that phrase said to him a few times; Reborn had said it, explaining Nono's reasoning's for killing people to get a disk of information. Luce herself had said it when justifying killing the Arco Iris. And Future Hayato had said it to him too when talking about why Tsunayoshi wanted to find and control his Flames. Family seemed to be a very big thing in the Mafia, especially ones where there was no blood connection between members. In fact, as far as he could tell, Mafioso put these connections of Family above those connections of actual blood.

She ruffles his hair. "That's right Tsunayoshi. Family first. That's why I've made arrangements." Everyone looks at their Boss, they hadn't heard anything about these _arrangements. _

There is intense concentration and speculation as they wait for Luce to reveal her plans. Luce, being the drama lover she is, decides to wait and wait, drawing out the tension as long as possible.

"The children will be living in…"

…Yes?

"The Shed."

Luce is given many looks, wondering whether she is finally off her rocker. Well, it had to happen sometime.

"The shed?!" Tsunayoshi shouts, looking at her with wide eyes. He knew what a shed was. He had found one at the end of Primo's garden. It was filled with tools for looking after the garden and with pots and fancy mud (aka compost). It was usually filled to the brim with junk, was dark, dirty and smelt funny. There was no room for the four of them in a shed. Plus those conditions were hardly better than their Estraneo cells! If not worse!

Luce giggles, tweaking Tsunayoshi's nose. "Ah, but you haven't seen _our_ shed." She smiles secretly. She walks towards the corridor that lead outside. Just as she's about to open the door, she turns. "Ah, Bermuda dear, release those children and bring them along. It would be pointless to show them their new home if they weren't even there."

Tsunayoshi became quiet. It was true, the Arcobaleno garden was so big that he didn't know whether he would have explored all of it. He had missed the BEACH at the end of the garden after all. So it didn't really surprise him to find out that there was a shed he didn't know about too.

All the occupants follow the pair out of the house, wanting to see this for themselves. They, of course, knew about their shed. But the last time any of them had checked, it wasn't suitable for children to live in.

Luce carried Tsunayoshi in a short walk across the lawn and through some trees before coming to a house like structure. It was huge to say the least. She knocks on the door before opening it.

"Dear, I brought your new roommates~" She sings.

The others, Arcobaleno included, stop and stare, or at least look appraisingly at the place. This was… not the shed they knew. For a start, it looked like an actual house on the inside rather than a maze of piles of junk.

"When did you do this?" Reborn growls. Even he hadn't known about this.

Luce smiles sweetly at him, not minding his tone at all, she never did. "Oh this? Hmm, quite recently, between now and the time I had the vision." That of course was self-explanatory and not the answer Reborn was looking for. "Remember you've all been rather busy recently, saving Tsunayoshi from the Arco Iris not included. Most of you have been away for the past two weeks. There's been lots of time to complete my pet project. You didn't think I did this by myself did you?" She laughs.

"Berde! Biper! 'Nello!" comes a childish shout all three recognise… and one that didn't belong in their shed.

They turn towards an internal door, watching as Lancia, holding a waving Fuuta, walks in. "Good Evening Arcobaleno." Lancia says, bowing his head in greeting.

"Explain." Reborn demands. What on earth had his air headed boss done now?

Luce smiles as if everything should be obvious. "Oh dear, you're a little behind Reborn, not had enough coffee to make those brain cells work?" She teases. "Well, I asked him to come here of course. You all know that I had a vision forewarning me of these events. The other futures I saw weren't favourable. This really was the best option for everyone and a nice neat way of removing the Estraneo without a fuss. No one can complain if they were eradicated by one of their own, everyone was half expecting it anyway." She eyes the four children, giving them a warming smile, showing she held no malice towards them or their actions, unlike some of her companions.

The Arcobaleno did indeed know about Luce's vision, it was hard not to see her suddenly freeze like a statue whilst crossing the living room one night after Tsunayoshi had gone to bed. She had had stern words with all of them, and the debate had gone on long into the night. Many of the Arcobaleno did not see her way of thinking, hardly believing that letting Tsunayoshi get possessed was a good thing. However, Luce's visions and judgements had never been wrong before now. Eventually she had managed to change their minds, even if begrudgingly. So they had played along, pretending that Mukuro was Tsunayoshi, allowing themselves to be fooled by the illusions.

"And I couldn't just leave these children to fend for themselves, that would just be heartless. And these children deserve as much love as possible. So I decided it was best for them to live with us. No one else would want to take them in anyway, poor dears. I knew that we couldn't have them in the house," Even she wouldn't be able to make them agree to that, plus there just wasn't the space. "So I decided to transform this place into a house for them. We weren't doing anything with it anyway- your stuff's in the underground bunker if you want it." She quickly interjects before Colonnello can ask the question. "And I won't be able to look after them, I have enough trouble looking after you troublesome lot." She says this half laughing, not really meaning it. "So I decided to ask Lancia to come and look after them. He does a wonderful job with Fuuta after all."

Lancia looks away. "She's been bugging me all week about it, wouldn't leave me alone." The Arcobaleno could sympathise with the poor man, when Luce wanted something she didn't stop until she had it. "And I couldn't really say no once she'd laid it all out for me. My Family took me in when there was no other place to go, so it's about time I did the same for someone else. The Boss was kind enough to let me go. And since Fuuta doesn't calm down with anyone else, I had to bring him along too." Fuuta seemed to know he was being talked about and giggles before waving a hand.

Lancia crosses the room to where the four children were standing in bewilderment. He kneels down to be on their level, letting Fuuta get a good look at them too. "So if none of you mind, I'll be taking care of you from now on." He smiles at the four, but doesn't say anything more- he'd let them decide.

Tsunayoshi looks at Luce, eyes as wide as they would so, sparkling with happiness. "Wow, Luce, you're the best!" He shouts, hugging her tightly. His friends weren't going to prison and they'd practically be living with him! What more could he ask for!

Mukuro looks Lancia up and down, observing the man for a few moments. Ken leans around Mukuro, sniffing the air around the new man.

Jumping out of Luce's arms, Tsunayoshi runs over to the four, a beaming smile on his face. "Hey isn't this amazing?" He asks. "You can stay here with me after all! And Lancia's really really nice too. He looks after Fuuta ALL of the time and he's always nice and doesn't shout and he's really helpful. Oh and he's strong too. He's the Strongest Man in Northern Italy." Tsunayoshi rambles on, listing all of Lancia's good and bad qualities- not that there were any bad qualities. Eventually he takes in a breath. "I think he'd do a good job of looking after you all. I couldn't think of anyone better."

Mukuro takes all of this in whilst observing the man presented to them. He briefly looks back at the others and sees no signs of dislike or apprehension from them.

Although even he knew they didn't really have any other option. He didn't want to go to Bermuda's prison.

"Kufufufu~ Fine then. We accept." He smirks.

* * *

><p>It's a long time before things calm down enough for Tsunayoshi to leave The Shed. There was a tour of the house and seeing their new bedrooms and clothes and lots of other stuff Luce had brought for them.<p>

However, finally it's just Mukuro and Tsunayoshi, observing Mukuro's new bedroom. Mukuro turns to Tsunayoshi, a weird contemplative smirk on his face. "I was right about my first thought of you Tsunayoshi." Mukuro says. Tsunayoshi tilts his head, not understanding. "From the moment I first met you I knew you were an interesting boy. You haven't proved me wrong since. A boy with an interesting family, interesting friends, an interesting personality… and most importantly, an interesting little mind. Do you have any idea what lies in that pretty little head of yours?"

Tsunayoshi didn't like that look, as if he were a puzzle to solve. He only liked that look when it was coming from Reborn or Verde. A cold spike of fear runs through Tsunayoshi.

"Oya? Do you or don't you?" Mukuro asks, stepping closer. "You have some idea, but not a full one. Strange… I would recognise my own Flames anywhere, yet I have not placed something like that within you."

"How do you know?" Tsunayoshi whispers.

"Oya Oya? What did you think the Mist within your mind was? It's certainly not natural of one such as you. But as much as I tried, I couldn't break the barrier of Flames hidden deep within your mind." Tsunayoshi gasps as he feels Mukuro probing within his head.

"It wasn't from you…" Tsunayoshi whispers, holding his head "Mukuro it hurts… Mukuro get out of my head! It hurts." Before he knew it, all had gone black.

Viper storms into the room at the shout from where she had been eavesdropping. She picks Tsunayoshi up before he can hit the floor, hiding him in as much of her cloak as possible.

"Just leave him alone. Haven't you already done enough damage?" She hisses, pushing down on him with her greater Flame Presence.

"Kufufu~ look at the Witch, so protective over her familiar. But you know what that is, don't you?" Mukuro laughs lightly, trying not to show the effect her aura was having on him. Sweat was already running down his brow.

"What it is is none of your business. If I find you've tried to break that barrier, I'll personally deal with you myself. My Spirit Eaters know the way to Hell quite well." Mukuro gulps, he knew all about her spirit eaters from his time on the Paths.

With her threat quite clearly hanging in the air, she turns and leaves the room.

Mukuro shakes his head, before grinning.

_Oh, what an interesting boy indeed._

* * *

><p><strong>Tada! So who was expecting that? I suspect some of you were. Anyway, only one more chapter left! And you had better bring your thinking caps along for that one for I have an important question for you all~<strong>

**Anyway, just a few little bits of shameless advertising for you all, hehe. For anyone who's interested, I posted up the last chapter of Lost and Found But Changed, which is a chapter focused on R27, but not just any R27, but a Vindice!Reborn and Arcobaleno!Tsuna R27 scene. So if you're interested check it out. You don't even really need to read the rest of the fic to know what's going on, just the first and last chapters should be enough. **

**And secondly, I posted up a oneshot today called "Could you please wait a moment?" And it's a rather touching scene between Gokudera and Tsuna showing Gokudera's undying loyalty to Juudaime, well Gokudera does all of the talking because Tsuna can't. It actually made me cry writing it, sounds silly I know. Whilst the fic itself didn't make me cry, it's the symbolism behind Gokudera asking "Could you please… wait a moment?" to Tsuna that makes me cry. You'll see what I mean if you read it. It's only short. **

**Wasn't I a busy bee, posting three chapters of three different fics in one day… now if only I could do that more often, hehe. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 14 Feb 2013**


	80. Go On, Take It

Chapter 80:

Go On, Take It.

**So here we are, on the last chapter of Arc 6. This chapter is kind of unrelated, but it is related at the same time. This was the best time I could think to do this chapter. Unlike with Mukuro, I can't make an arc out of this event (no matter how much I wish I could T.T ).**

* * *

><p>Sky looks down at the crying woman sat on his lap and hugs her tighter. "Are you feeling better now?" He asks.<p>

Kiri nods, wiping her eye on her sleeve, "Hai, Bossu. I'm sorry about that."

He shakes his head and smiles gently. "No, it's okay. What kind of Boss would I be if you couldn't come to me? But I'm still surprised that you of all people snuck out. Nonetheless I understand why you did. However," his voice turned slightly sterner, "I have warned you multiple times not to cross dimensions unless absolutely necessary. If you hadn't disobeyed my orders and gone, then you wouldn't be so sad now. There are reasons that we don't normally see alternate dimensions. Hopefully you'll think again before making a trip." Kiri nods, firmly getting the message.

Sky sighs and looks up at the other occupant of the room. "For your ungranted interference in an alternate dimension, I will have to punish the both of you. Luckily enough neither of you have come close to your deadlines for alternate dimension travel like Storm did, so the punishment won't be as bad. It is also a good thing that both of you kept out of the way and didn't alter the timeline too much. From what I had gathered, the situation would have followed this path with or without your interference. Your punishment starts tomorrow."

Nebbia smirks, giving Sky a curious look. "Oya Oya, it's all well to hand out punishments, but you yourself have travelled and changed things. And your changes are the biggest of all. Don't you think you should punish yourself too?" He smirks at his boss.

Sky looks his Mist Guardian in the eyes sternly, not backing down. "Don't you think I already have? Don't you think I hate myself for having to do that to Chibi? I can't even imagine what living with two sets of memories would be like. It's hard enough to get used to the Vongola intuition without having another internal force affect your decisions. I kick myself every day for the things I have done. But there's no going back now. Maybe once everything is over I can visit him and apologise for ruining his life."

He sighs forlornly before looking sharply back at Nebbia. "Are you sure that your other self couldn't see those memories when Chibi was possessed? It wouldn't be good if he had access to that information too."

"Kufufu, there is no need to worry. " Nebbia laughs, waving a hand in the air. "My younger self is still quite weak compared to myself, there is no way for him to have broken the barrier, no matter how hard he tried. He doesn't even have the Vongola Ring to increase his strength. It will be a very long time before he is powerful enough to make an attempt, even under the tutorage of Mammon."

Sky nods, accepting the information. He just hoped that Nebbia wasn't being bias.

* * *

><p>Things had finally calmed down around the Arcobaleno house. There had still been some tension between the Arcobaleno and Mukuro, but as time had gone on, they had lessened and lessened. The rule that, unless it was an emergency, Mukuro and the others were not allowed inside the house, most likely helped solve the issue.<p>

For some reason, Viper had been taking a lot of long missions with the Varia, and nearly every time had come home with no splatters of blood on her. This was rather strange- she was often partnered up with Belphegor since she was one of the few people capable of making him actually do something. Belphegor was known for his love of blood, so coming home clean was a rarity. Xanxus had nearly come over a few times, going to demand to know why his Mist Trash was going on a rampage (Or at least, what was considered one for her). He had no problem with it, but for Belphegor, it meant less fun and less blood and as such he was quite an annoyance at home.

The Arcobaleno had noticed it too, but let her do as she wished, allowing her to cool off. Something must have happened between her and Mukuro, since she was fine before she came home with an unconscious Tsunayoshi. No amount of questioning, even from Luce, had gotten her to talk about what had happened. But after a few days, and what seemed to be no lingering effects from the possession on Tsunayoshi's part, she had calmed down again.

But there came a point, where the two Mist users were forced to meet...

Tsunayoshi woke up, feeling slightly worried, but not knowing why. It was the same feeling as if one of the others had snuck into the room. But a good look around shows that it's only him and Skull in the room. Skull is still fast asleep, recovering after doing a gig the night before- he had leapt over a gorge on his motorcycle a few times. So assuming that it was just his imagination, Tsunayoshi snuggles back down and closes his eyes.

_Tap tap. _

Tsunayoshi's eyes flick open. There _had_ been a noise! He looks around the room carefully. He wasn't going to get scared by one of the others jumping out at him, oh no, not this time! But he still couldn't see anyone. The tapping noise comes again. Frowning, Tsunayoshi rolls over, it sounded like it came from behind them. He peers over Skull's shoulder, looking at the floor over the other side of the bed. Hmm, still no sign of an Arcobaleno.

The tapping noise sounds once more. Still frowning, Tsunayoshi climbs out of bed, trying not to wake Skull up.

"Natsu, stay here and look after Skull." He whispers.

Bare feet make no sound on the carpet; he had gotten good at walking silently in attempts to scare Reborn, although no attempts had worked so far, and all had ended with a Gun Leon pointed in his face. The tapping comes again, and this time Tsunayoshi looks up at the window to see…

A vine.

The vine, seeing it finally had the little boy's attention, taps the window once more before waving.

Tsunayoshi waves back.

"**HEEEIIIIII!"** He screams.

"Skull! Skull! Quick wake up! Verde's decided to be a normal mad scientist and try to take over the world!" Verde had never tried to take over the world so far, despite the title of Mad Scientist. He had no interest in it to be honest, he didn't think he ever would try.

"WHAT?" Skull shouts, sitting up immediately at Tsunayoshi's shout. Oh dear God, this was the end of the world! Who knew what hells Verde would bring?!

"Skull! Verde's made mutant plants! Look at the window!" Tsunayoshi shouts, pointing to where the vine had been.

They both run over to the window, Tsunayoshi stepping on a box to be able to see clearly.

And there, in the garden, were two plants. Quite normal, something expected. Or it would be, however these plants had a huge flower the size of a car and vines creeping around the garden, up the walls and trees.

Skull turns to Tsunayoshi, fear in his eyes. "This is the end. Verde's finally decided to get rid of humanity! We're going to be trapped by the plants and starve to death. If we go outside then they'll try to kill us! See, Verde's already going after Reborn and you know how often Verde's tried to kil-" Skull was quick to stop, Tsunayoshi didn't like it whenever anyone mentioned how often Verde tried to kill Reborn.

Tsunayoshi jumps down from the box and heads towards the bedroom door. "Tsunayoshi, no! Don't go!" Skull pleads, turning around to stop the little boy.

"I'm going to go and tell Verde off." Tsunayoshi states, looking serious.

He runs down the stairs, and is surprised to find that no one was in a panic.

Fon looks up from his mug of tea, an eyebrow raised. "What is troubling you Tsunayoshi?" He asks.

Tsunayoshi's jaw drops. How could they not be worried! He points a finger towards the kitchen window which lead out to the garden- they had a perfect view of the battle from here. "How can- but there's- plants- moving- Verde- snapped- King of the world- eep?"

The Arcobaleno couldn't really make much of Tsunayoshi's sentence. The stuttering made sense considering he'd been around Skull last. But the 'eep' was something new. None of them went 'eep'. Ever. So, slightly confused, they all look out of the window.

"What's wrong with that Tsunayoshi?" Fon asks, looking at the scene outside of the window.

"It looks like things are progressing well." Bermuda adds with a nod.

"I was a little worried at first," Luce says, "But it seems like things will only get better from here on out."

Tsunayoshi's jaw remains lowered. Were they insane? Or blind? NO! Verde had brainwashed them all to go along with his plan! He ignores their questions as he runs through the kitchen and outside the back door.

"Reborn! You've got to win!" Tsunayoshi shouts, watching the hitman jump around the garden, dodging flying vines.

Reborn backflips, turning to look at Tsunayoshi. "Why do you sound so desperate? Of course I'm going to win. They can't beat me even if I let them hit me." To prove his point, Reborn lands in-between the two gigantic flowers and stands still.

"Reborn!" Tsunayoshi shouts in worry. Running as fast as he can, he crosses the garden, hoping to be able to push Reborn out of the way. Sure Reborn was the world's best hitman, but he had always beaten people (or robots). Even Tsunayoshi didn't know whether Reborn could beat mutant plants. And not just any mutant plants, but _Verde's _ mutant plants.

His eyes widen as two vines dive towards the hitman at full speed. Reborn wasn't moving at all, it didn't seem like he was going to dodge. With a smirk on his face, just before the moment of impact, Reborn lowers his fedora, covering his eyes. The vines pierce right through him and out the other side, blood dripping down his shirt and jacket.

Tsunayoshi shakes his head, that scene just wasn't possible. He looks, surprised to see no blood at all, before he blinks and the blood is back. He keeps on running towards Reborn. Hearing a noise behind him, he half turns to see two more vines coming towards him. He didn't have time to dodge. He closes his eyes, hoping that this wasn't going to hurt too much.

It doesn't.

After feeling two thumps, Tsunayoshi opens his eyes. But instead of finding two vines wrapped around him, he finds Mukuro and Chrome hugging him. Mukuro smirks and laughs. "Kufufufu, did you like it Tsunayoshi? You sounded very scared."

Blinking slowly, Tsunayoshi looks between Mukuro and Chrome. The girl smiles up happily at him, as if she hadn't just scared the life out of him. Reborn and Viper walk over too. Tsunayoshi is surprised and relieved to find no hint of blood on Reborn, nor a gaping hole in his shirt.

"B-but- Verde- mutant plants… world dom-in-a-tion…?" Is all Tsunayoshi can stutter.

"Oya? What are you on about Tsunayoshi? The Professor has done nothing. This was simply a combat exercise. I rather like my new weapons, unique, aren't they?" Mukuro keeps on smirking, stroking one of the lotus vines nearby.

"They are interesting. But still not enough to even faze me." Reborn inputs, "It was rather easy to break your hold on me. I didn't even see what your last attack was."

"They impaled you. Blood was running down your shirt." Viper explains, picking Chrome up before asking. "Although you broke the illusion off rather quickly, why?"

"Tsunayoshi was starting to break it." Mukuro explains. "We couldn't keep the blood up much longer. A shame. I was going to make you fall to your knees, now wouldn't that have been a pretty sight?" Mukuro taunts Reborn.

"You're a hundred years too young to make me fall to my knees, even as an illusion." Reborn retorts right back.

Viper nods, looking down at the still confused boy. "That's not surprising. Tsunayoshi still doesn't think Reborn can get hurt. His belief of Reborn's invincibility must be stronger that your hold on him."

"So… that was all an illusion?" Tsunayoshi asks, looking between the four. "Verde really hasn't created mutant plants and is trying to take over the world?"

The two child illusionists start laughing. Reborn gives Tsunayoshi a look, whilst Viper's sighs. Tsunayoshi breaths out in relief, now able to laugh at how silly he had just been. Of course Verde wouldn't do that.

"TSUNAYOSHI! WATCH OUT! YOU'RE GOING TO GET EATEN!" Everyone looks over to see Skull running across the garden, helmet covering his head.

Viper sighs once again, especially when Mukuro's smirk widens. "I know it's fun playing around with Skull like this, but you had better stop the illusion." Mukuro frowns before stomping his trident against the ground. Skull nearly trips as the mutant plants suddenly disappear within the blink of an eye.

"Viper! That's not fair! You nearly killed the both of us!" Skull whines, having gotten the situation a lot quicker- he'd had enough illusion tricks played on him in the past.

"Che, you're pathetic for not even being able to tell it's an illusion." Reborn admonishes, kicking Skull for his stupidity. Finally things click in Tsunayoshi's head. The others hadn't been worried because they couldn't even see the illusion! Oh he must have sounded crazy to them all.

"Tsunayoshi, dear, come here and get dressed. You're wanted at the docks." Luce shouts, poking her head out of the kitchen window.

Hmm? Why was he wanted there?

* * *

><p>As they walked through the magnificent gates of Mafia Row, continuing on towards the Docks, Tsunayoshi could hear a lot of shouting. He flinches as the sound of bombs goes off, the dust clouds running towards them. The closer they get, they realise that the sounds are that of an argument, although a one sided argument.<p>

"Get the hell offa me!" Tsunayoshi knew that voice.

"I ain't going back! You can't make me!"

There are a few impact sounds, a few clangs of metal against metal.

"You are disturbing the peace and I shall discipline you for that."

"OW! Oi, brat, do that once more and I'll kick your pathetic ass back to Rome."

"Fine! It's better than being stuck here!"

Tsunayoshi and a few of the Arcobaleno keep on walking, wondering what this argument was about. Another blast and a cloud of smoke blooms into existence before them. Shadows run, leaping out of the smoke and running on past. It was Hayato, being chased by Kyoya and… Shamal? Hayato flicks some dynamites behind him before continuing to dash towards one of the boats.

"Ungrateful brat." Shamal growls quietly under his breath. "I'm sending you back there right now!"

Hayato keeps on running, but suddenly rams into Kurogane's legs. Hayato didn't know when he had gotten there, he'd been behind him a moment ago. He scrambles backwards, half turning and pushing up off the floor to give him a runner's start. He even throws one of his dynamites at the formidable Head GateKeeper, something that few would dare.

"NO! I'm not, I'm not, I'm NOT!" The silveret keeps on shouting, shaking his head. He ducks under Kyoya's tonfa blow, throwing a pile of thick ship's rope at him before running down a plank. "I'll even swim away from here!"

The idea was preposterous, they were on an island, and there was no land in sight. Even one of the adults couldn't swim far enough to reach dry land. And that was assuming they weren't attacked by the sharks around here.

"You brainless fool!" Shamal shouts, running even though he knows he's too far away to catch the boy before he jumped.

Instead there is a flash of brown before two small figures throw themselves off the docks, one after another.

"Hayato!" Tsunayoshi shouts as he jumps. He couldn't let his friend do this.

As the pair resurface after their dive, Hayato looks around, ready to shout at whatever stupid adult had come after him. "Tsunayoshi-sama?" He asks in confusion.

"Hayato… we have to… go back…" Tsunayoshi gasps trying to keep his head above the water.

But there was one problem that Tsunayoshi had forgotten about: He couldn't swim. Any time he had been in the water, such as the Arcobaleno's private beach or in Ookado's tank, he had always been held up or dragged around.

Luckily enough Bermuda was on hand (having been called to the 'disturbance' too) and sent his chains in after the two boys. He plucks them out of the water, carrying them back onto dry land. Tsunayoshi, he deposits into Fon's arms, whereas Hayato, he places on the floor infront of them all.

"You forgot that you can't swim, didn't you? Whilst noble, it was very silly and dangerous of you to do so Tsunayoshi." Fon chides, patting the boy's back to help Tsunayoshi cough up some of the sea water.

"Why does sea water taste so bad?" mutters Tsunayoshi to himself before turning around in Fon's arms to see Hayato better. "Hey, Hayato, are you okay?"

Hayato looks up from where he had been trying to get Bermuda's chain off of him, and sees Tsunayoshi-sama's concerned expression. He gasps before getting on his knees. "Thank you very much Tsunayoshi-sama! I didn't mean to be a problem to you! You're so brave."

"Che, of course you meant to be a problem, brat." Shamal says in an annoyed voice, standing over the child. He grabs Hayato's wrist and hauls the boy up, about to drag him home. Hayato's expression turns fierce and he reaches up to bite Shamal's hand. " Oi you little imp, I told you the last time you bit me that if you did it again I'd kick your sorry little ass back to Rome." He gives Hayato a harsh shake. "Those Mafioso can keep you for all I care."

Luce steps forwards, laying a calming hand on Shamal's shoulder. "Calm down, I'm sure that Hayato's just scared at the moment. Do you mind telling me what's going on?"

Shamal lets go of Hayato, chucking him back onto the floor. The small boy glared back up with grey eyes. The doctor turns his back on the child menace, smiling at Luce. "For you, my beautiful dear, of course." He sweeps his hand through his hand, smiling devilishly at Luce. She just giggles, waving a hand at his actions. Flirting, she didn't mind, but Shamal knew better than to try and kiss her, his last attempt had had him in the hospital for a month- and Reborn hadn't been the one to do the damage either.

"Although the story is rather short. I was in Rome for an assassination and was on my way to a bar I knew when I found this ungrateful devil's child trying to defend himself against a gang of Mafiosi. I didn't get to see which Famiglia they were from. I caught him and brought him back here. But the moment we're back on dry land he starts kicking up a fuss and trying to get back in the boat. Apparently he ran away from home and doesn't want to go back." Trident Shamal shrugs his shoulders, showing he didn't know what to do.

Tsunayoshi jumps out of Fon's arms and pulls Hayato away from the adults. The pair of GateKeepers keep an eye on the bomber, making sure he didn't try to escape into another boat again.

Luce watches the pair go, knowing that Tsunayoshi would sort this mess out. She turns an eye to Shamal.

"You know Hayato's a boy, right, no matter how cute he looks in a dress." She says slyly. Bianchi had put Hayato in a dress before now and he looked just as adorable as Tsunayoshi did.

Shamal sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Believe me, I know that. No girl would be such a bother."

"Why are you bothering so much?" she asks, curious.

"Because he's Lavina's. Most beautiful woman in the world she was. We've known each other for a very long time, and with her now gone… looking after her brat is all I can do. He ain't bad really, as stubborn as a mule, but then again, so was she. He's loyal, just like she was. It's a real shame she's not here to watch him grow up. She'd like the man he's going to become."

* * *

><p>"Hayato, did you really run away from home?" Tsunayoshi asks, sitting down.<p>

Hayato sits down next to him, crossing his arms and frowning. "Yes, I did. I snuck onto one of the boats leaving here and it took me to Rome. I didn't really care where the ship went as long as I got away from here."

Tsunayoshi looks at Hayato with a shocked expression. "But why?" He asks. He couldn't even imagine leaving the Arcobaleno.

"Because I hate that place." Hayato whispers with angry passion. "Its too hard to live in a place where everyone hates you. I had always wondered why my father used to like me sometimes and hate me at others. It's because I look too much like my mother. He doesn't like being reminded of her. He even beats me because of it sometimes, when he's been drinking a lot of alcohol."

Gasping, Tsunayoshi looks appalled. "Then you should have come see me. The Arcobaleno would have told him off for you."

"I know, but that wouldn't help. I doubt it would stop either. The thing is, whenever I see him, all I can think is that this was the man who ordered my mother to be killed. Or maybe Bianchi's mother did it. It doesn't matter who. How can I live in the same house as them knowing that? It makes me sick." Hayato brings his knees up to his chest, laying his head on them. "I've had enough." He whispers.

"But doesn't Bianchi like you? You wouldn't want to leave her would you?" Tsunayoshi asks concerned.

Hayato looks up, placing his chin on his knees instead. "Yeah, Aneki does look after me. But then she goes and feeds me that poison cooking of hers. I would be fine, except she keeps on changing it. Just as I'm getting used to the stuff she goes and changes it and it all hurts again. If that's her love then I don't want it." Hayato had already gone a little green thinking about it. "I can't live in a place where people try to kill me. I won't live in a place where everyone hates me. I'm not going back to _that _place." He spat, almost shouting. "The maids whisper behind my back, the butlers give me nasty looks, and all of the people who do business with father just sneer at me as if I'm something to laugh at! I cry myself to sleep more often than not and I've had enough!"

There were tears already in Hayato's eyes, Tsunayoshi notices. He leaps forwards and tackles his friend with a hug. "Why did mother have to get killed? It's all her fault."

Tsunayoshi snaps backwards, holding Hayato at arm's length. "That's mean and you know it." Hayato looks down. "If she was here she would love you lots and lots and you wouldn't be feeling like this."

"That's the point!" Hayato says, forcefully, but still not shouting at Tsunayoshi. "She's not here. You have Luce to give you lots of love and care. Who do I have? No one!" Finally the tears fall from shining grey eyes.

Tsunayoshi looks over towards Luce, who was still talking to Shamal, and thought about all the things she had done for him. She made him outfits, she looked after him whenever he was ill, she made him food, she hugged him when he was sad and she laughed with him when he was happy. Luce was his mother through and through, and he wouldn't change her for the world. He couldn't imagine the house without her. It made him feel really sad to think that Hayato didn't get any of that.

Hayato looks up when Tsunayoshi grabs his hands and brings them up infront of Hayato's face. "You're forgetting again, aren't you?" Tsunayoshi says kindly. Hayato furrows his brows in confusion. Still holding Hayato's hands infront of the boy's face, he asks, "How many times have you played the piano recently?"

Hayato blinks before looking away. He hadn't, not recently. He'd been too busy crying and feeling sorry for himself. And Tsunayoshi-sama knew that. "I told you last time you cried that all you need to do is play the piano to remember her." Whispers Tsunayoshi. "Viper tells me that music makes lots of money because people show their feelings through it. Pieces that make people feel happy or sad make lots of money because they're so good. Maybe you should do the same, just play how you feel. I'm sure it'll reach her that way. Viper also says that the spirits of dead people remain here sometimes looking after people they love. I'm sure your mother wouldn't be happy to see you so sad."

Hayato nods. He wouldn't want to make his mother sad. "I'll try, Tsunayoshi-sama." Then he looks up, looking like a desperate deer in the headlights. "But please Tsunayoshi-sama, don't make me go back. I really can't go back there anymore." He grabs Tsunayoshi's shoulders, the first such gesture he had ever done in their one and a half years of knowing each other. "I'm begging you, please." If Tsunayoshi was shocked by the forceful grab then he was even more surprised by the plea. Hayato had never asked him for anything, ever. Hayato was always trying to please him, never asking for anything in return.

Tsunayoshi stares at his friend, trying to get a far too clear image of Hayato living on the streets out of his head. It was too clear to be his imagination, and it was indigo tinged like all of his not-memories. Something was telling him that Hayato really would run away from here and live in Italy by himself if Tsunayoshi let him go. The feeling said he would survive, just barely, but it would change him, change him for the worse. He would never trust anyone again if Tsunayoshi let him leave now. He most likely would never see his friend again either. Hayato's life would be an unhappy one, never finding a place to settle, to call home. He would never have a family to love him.

And Tsunayoshi wasn't EVER going to let that happen.

He stands up, pulling Hayato up with him and dragging him in the direction of the Gate.

"T-Tsunayoshi-sama, what are you doing?" Hayato asks, voice confused and fearful. All he could think about was that his house was in that direction. Was Tsunayoshi-sama going to force him to go to the place?

"Luce, I'm taking Hayato home." Tsunayoshi says, smiling at her.

Luce laughs softly. That had been the voice Tsunayoshi had used when bringing a stray dog home one day. "Alright hunny. You know where to put him." She calls back, voice light. Bermuda and Fon look at her, both not really surprised. Although at least this time they had no objections. All the Arcobaleno had seen how Hayato treated Tsunayoshi, there was going to be no danger from him.

Hayato pales. He gets paler and paler the closer they get to the crossroads. At this rate he might actually have to hurt Tsunayoshi-sama to get away. He didn't want to, but if it meant his freedom then he would.

All the breath leaves his lungs as they turn in the opposite direction, away from his house and towards… the Arcobaleno House. His eyes widen. Surely Tsunayoshi-sama wasn't…

Hayato remains speechless as they enter the gates of the Arcobaleno House. Instead of going inside, they go around the side of the house, through the gardens and into a forest at the back. The bomber really wonders where they were going, he didn't know the Arcobaleno House very well. Apart from the one time when he had gone to see the Arcobaleno about Tsunayoshi-sama going missing, he had never been inside the gates. All play-dates had been at his house instead.

Tsunayoshi-sama marches him through the front door of a building that wasn't his house. Although it looks like a house on the inside.

"Lancia, are you around?" Tsunayoshi shouts, looking around the front room. They eventually find the man in the kitchen, making a bottle of milk for Fuuta.

"Can I help you with something Tsunayoshi?" Lancia asks, shaking the bottle as he looked over his shoulder at the small boy. He takes a look at Hayato's tear drenched face, and wet clothing.

"Hayato's going to live here from now on, is that okay?" Tsunayoshi asks. Lancia would laugh, that face didn't really give him the option to say no. Plus, this place was more Tsunayoshi's than his, being the Arcobaleno's son.

Instead, Lancia smiles before reaching into one of the drawers. Grabbing the item he needed he throws it at Tsunayoshi. The brunet catches the shining item before holding it out towards Hayato.

"Go on, take it."

Hayato doesn't know what to think. He can't even really process what Tsunayoshi-sama wants him to do. Why did Tsunayoshi-sama want him to take a key?

"Hayato, take it." Tsunayoshi-sama is still smiling at him, still talking nicely at him, but he's still confused.

"But what's…"

"It's a key silly," Tsunayoshi-sama laughs. "Everyone has the key to their own house don't they?" Hayato continues to stare blankly at Tsunayoshi-sama. Tsunayoshi-sama laughs at him- why?- before placing the key in his hand and wrapping his fingers around it. "You live here now Hayato. If you want to that is. Or don't you want to live with me?"

Finally Hayato's brain processes the situation and the words and actions of Tsunayoshi-sama. He quickly gets on his knees, bowing his head to the floor. "I can't inconvenience you like that Tsunayoshi-sama. You already saved my life, I cannot ask for more!"

Tsunayoshi pulls Hayato back up, laughing at his antics. "Nonsense. Like Lancia said, there's plenty of room and we have enough money to look after you too." He looks seriously at Hayato before saying, "Hayato, I want you to be part of my family. So please, live here with me."

Hayato couldn't say no.

Mr and Mrs Gokudera couldn't be happier to see Hayato finally leave. Bianchi didn't like the sound of her half-brother leaving, but she didn't mind it either. With Hayato living behind the gates of the Arcobaleno House, she now had an excuse to see her beloved Reborn more often.

"And this is your bedroom," Tsunayoshi happily announces, opening the door wide.

The first and only thing Hayato sees is the grand piano sat infront of the large double windows. He runs up to it and realises that it's the very same one from his room. The one his mother had taught him on.

"How?" He gasps, amazed.

Tsunayoshi giggles before holding a finger to his lips. "It's a secret." And he now owed Bermuda a favour.

Hayato turns back to Tsunayoshi with shining eyes. He quickly crosses the room before grabbing Tsunayoshi-sama's hands and kneeling before him. "Thank you Tsunayoshi-sama. My life is now truly in your hands. Do with it as you wish."

"That's silly Hayato. You're family now, and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."

* * *

><p><strong>There we go, the ending of Arc 6! And as such we have our sentence! (And many thanks to Erephen for helping me mess around with this sentence.)<strong>

_Life is but a game, don't let someone else cage you behind black metal bars. Destroy the reality you are forced into, use every tool at your disposal, cheat if you have to. Even reach into hell for power. Reject the hand dealt out by fate and reach for the happy ending you desire. Go on, take it. _

**This sentence is mostly about Mukuro's position (hence the words game, metal bars, tool and hell), but is also about empowerment and change. The world is in the palm of your hand, and with a lot of power and help, nearly anything can be done. Of course certain circumstances don't always allow one to change their fate, but it's still a nice thought. And I suppose as a 'responsible adult' I should be telling you that cheating is wrong, haha. **

**So time for my next big question! **

Basically, the next arc is a school based one, covering Tsunayoshi from the age of 6 to around 8 or so. So all I'm asking for is any school based plot bunnies you may have. I want this arc to be quite a long one, so I want as many ideas as possible. It doesn't matter how small they are, I'll gladly take them. I have a few key plot points of my own to write, but apart from that, I'll write whatever you all want me to. Of course those who have already made suggestions, I'll make sure to fit them in. Also any characters that haven't been introduced yet but are around Tsunayoshi's age will be introduced here, such as Fran, M.M, Hana and Mochida too maybe. Not Yuni yet though, she's still coming later. You'll be able to use any of the KHR cast in this arc, so you all really have free reign.

**I look forwards to reading them all. You have at least a week since coming next are some Omakes. If you have any questions, then drop me a PM. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 17 Feb 2013**


	81. Omake E Tongue Tied Troubles

Chapter 81

Omake E

Tongue Tied Troubles.

"Luce, is there something troubling you?" Fon asks, seeing the woman sitting forlornly at the kitchen table.

Luce sighs and turns her head, which had been resting in her hand, towards Fon. "No, not really." She replies. Fon raises an eyebrow, clearly not believing her. "Well, it's just…"

She looks over at the bundle of cloth laid down on the table before her, asleep. Fon looks over too, smiling at both the baby and at the expression of pure bliss Luce had on her face. He was glad the baby had come along, Luce seemed a lot happier with him. She always seemed like the nurturing type, she had even nurtured the other members of the Arcobaleno. But the Arcobaleno had been together long enough now that they no longer needed her support or guidance as much as they used to. They had all acclimatised to each other, settled into routines and knew where certain lines were drawn. Aria had been the new Giglio Nero Boss for long enough now that Luce wasn't even needed there. To Fon, it had seemed that she had been rather bored, or maybe even lost, without something to do. But having this baby had brought purpose and fulfilment back into her life. Fon hadn't seen her happier before.

"It's just…" He prompts when she continues to look down yet say nothing.

"Well, my dear Aria had learnt to talk by this stage. Most babies have generally. So I'm a little worried. Of course I know just as well as anyone that learning to walk and talk happen at their own pace, but still…" Fon nods, children were not his expertise, so he was sure that Luce had a legitimate reason for this worry- "He still hasn't called me Mama yet!" She whines dramatically, –Or maybe not.

Hearing the click of a freshly boiled kettle, he walks over and starts to prepare some calming herbal tea. A few moments later, he places a mug down before Luce. "Well, have you actually _tried_ to teach him to talk?" Fon asks, sitting down with his own mug.

"Mmmrn, errn, mnhh," The pair loom down at the sounds, watching as the baby wakes up from his 3:25PM nap. The baby blinks at them and giggles, smiling brightly before reaching his arms up for both of them.

Luce reaches down and picks the baby- or toddler really, Tsunayoshi was a little too old to really be called a baby- up before holding him infront of her. "Tsunayoshi, can you say 'mama'?" She asks, smiling.

"Abbadada!" Tsunayoshi sings before patting Luce's cheek with a chubby hand. Luce smiles and laughs, bouncing him gently. Tsunayoshi had been making baby noises like this for the past few months now, especially whenever he was happy. It was really his only form of communication except from pointing at things. Although now that Luce thought about it, Tsunayoshi had always been quite a gestural baby, always waving or pointing or acting things out. He did it far more than Aria had done.

"Try again Tsunayoshi. Mama. Ma-ma." She says, still smiling with laughter in her eyes.

"Babaa!" Tsunayoshi says proudly, patting her cheek again.

Fon hides his smile behind his sleeve as Luce puts on a fake pout. "Now now, I won't be called that. I'm far too young and pretty to be called a hag. And I'd like to stick to Italian please. I don't want to be insulted in other languages." Luce wonders whether Tsunayoshi had learnt that when growing up in Japan with his real mother or not. She shakes her head- nah, it was just baby talk, he wouldn't know what it actually meant.

Tsunayoshi blinks up at her in confusion, not sure about the mixed signals he was getting. Her voice and face hadn't matched. "Mm-mm?"

Smiling once more, Luce gasps loudly and bounces him again. "That was really close Tsunayoshi!" She turns him around to face Fon. "How about Fon. Can you say Fon?"

All Fon gets is a raspberry blown at him, Tsunayoshi's attempt at an 'F'. Fon reaches forwards and pats Tsunayoshi on the head. "Maybe you should keep practicing before saying my name."

"Maybe some of the others would have better luck?" Luce wonders.

She walks into the living room and spots her next victim. She takes a breath in, ready to use the sweetest voice possible on the other woman.

"No."

She deflates, pouting. "But I haven't even said anything yet."

The victim, Viper, doesn't even look at Luce, still counting out last night's Varia pay check onto the table. The Euros went onto that pile, the American Dollars over on that pile, and all the British Sterling went onto a pile on her lap, ready for her trip tomorrow.

"Still no."

Luce puffs herself up again, determined to get the psychic to at least hear her out. "Look, all I want-"

"No."

"-Is for you-"

"No."

"-To attempt to-"

"No."

"-Teach Tsunayoshi to talk."

Finally Viper turns her head to the side to look at Luce.

"No."

"But why nooot?" Luce whines. She crosses the room, putting the child in Viper's direct view. "Look at him. How can you say no to that face?"

Viper looks at Tsunayoshi, with his large angelic eyes, chubby cheeks and fluffy hair, the personification of cute. "No." She then goes back to her counting.

"Fine, I'll go ask someone else then." Luce sighs, lifting the baby to her shoulder. She walks out of the room, in search of her next target. Tsunayoshi waves at Viper as he is carried out of the room.

There was no way Viper would be the one to teach Tsunayoshi to talk. She wasn't about to cut off one of her own revenues. The longer the child couldn't talk the better in her opinion. It meant that if they wanted to know what the child was asking for, they'd have to ask, and therefore _pay_, for her to translate. With the Arcobaleno getting more and more used to the baby's habits, requests for translations had been going down, but they hadn't stopped. Sure, they could easily tell who the baby wanted to sleep with by pointing him at them all and seeing who he reached out for, but there were other times when the baby needed to be directly consulted. And all the more money for her.

* * *

><p>A high pitched major chord of chimes, the chord giving off a scientifically proven 'happy' sound, rings out in the cluttered confines of the underground laboratory. Verde looks up and over towards the screens showing the camera footage of the stairwell, proving that it was indeed Luce coming down the stairs. He had different noises for each of the Arcobaleno so he knew who to expect to enter his lab next, and therefore know whether it was earplugs, pen or paper, or his latest version of poison he needed to grab. The ear plugs were for Luce or Skull; for the first since she never stopped talking about the most superfluous of topics, and for the later since he too didn't stop talking or sometimes crying. The pen and paper was generally for the others who had something they needed him to design for them. And the poison? Well that was for his next attempt at killing Reborn of course. It was rare that the hitman entered his lab, and the times he did it was usually to make some snarky or sarcastic comment that annoyed Verde to no end. If he wasn't going to be constructive, or at least useful in any format, then Verde didn't want to see him.<p>

Surprisingly, Luce looks all business as she sets foot into the lab. Even so, Verde goes back to looking (pretending to be) busy. Luce quietly takes a chair and moves it to the end of the desk, sitting down and putting the child on her lap. And then she is silent. Even the baby is, and Verde knows it's awake. Continuing to work, Verde keeps half an eye on the strangely acting woman. It wasn't like her to sit and wait for him to finish.

She must want something. Something important.

He puts down the spanner and screwdriver in his hands, before turning towards her. Pushing his glasses up, he asks, "Yes?"

She lifts up the baby and stretches her arms out, presenting it to him.

And…?

"Teach him to talk." She says, voice neutral. "You and I both know that he should be talking by now. I'm sure your journals agree." Well, she made a valid point, Verde thought as his eyes flicked to the pile of journals and magazines in the corner. So rolling his eyes, he takes the child out of her hands. He looks down as he places the child on the table, but after a second he takes a side glance at the woman. She hadn't squealed or clapped now that she had gotten her way… she must be really worried.

He turns his attention back to the child, who is calmly looking at him with equally observant eyes. If Verde had one good thing to say about this child, it was that it was a quiet one, and he highly appreciated that fact. If it had been a child that cried every few moments, he would have locked himself in the lab for the next year or so until the child had some more self-control. But since this child was an unusually well behaved one, Verde could tolerate him. Plus, this child was a rather interesting observational subject.

Reaching his hands out, he gently runs his fingers along the child's neck and the underside of his jaw with a care he only ever showed to the most volatile of chemicals. Fingers marred by years of scalpel cuts, acid burns and power tool usage tap and press gently, feeling for anything that may be causing a problem with the subject's vocal chords. It seemed like the subject was in good health, no lumps or unexplained symptoms. The baby giggles, Verde can feel the thyroid cartilage and trachea move under his fingertips, and the movement doesn't bring any new warning signs with it. He dips a hand into a drawer by his leg, bringing out a stick and a penlight.

"Say 'ahh'." He tells the boy. The subject looks up at him copying the movement he had just seen, creating the desired sound. Verde nods and moves the stick towards the child's mouth. But tiny jaws clamp shut. He raises an eyebrow before repeating his order. Again the child opens his mouth, creating sounds along with it. But once more, as soon as the stick moved towards his mouth, the boy shut his lips. The child grins and laughs at him, obviously enjoying the game much more than Verde was.

With an annoyed half-sigh half-growl, Verde decides to change tactics. He was used to his test subjects following his orders to the letter, or at least not resisting because they were dead… or unconscious. So it annoyed Verde to no end to be played with by a toddler. Luce makes no move to interfere either, actually enjoying the sight. Verde holds the penlight between his teeth before taking the child's jaw in a soft yet firm grip. Finally he can put the stick in the boy's mouth, depressing the tongue to get a better look at the tonsils and back of the throat. Again everything seems clear.

He lets go of Tsunayoshi's jaw, takes the penlight out of his mouth and puts it and the stick in a tray to be sterilised later on.

"There is nothing physically wrong with the child that seems to be impeding his speech. At this age there is still no need for more invasive tests to check on the vocal chords specifically." He informs Luce so she wouldn't worry any more. He can detect the relief in the features of her face.

He turns back to the boy, making eye contact. "What you need to learn is the full extent of movement that your jaws and lips can make, adding that in with specific tongue movements and vocal vibrations to eventually form increased coherent speech." He takes another glance at the worried mother, before rolling his eyes. "We'll start with the word Mama since you already have associated that word with Luce." In fact the child could already separate all eight of them by name.

Luce watched with interested eyes, whilst also stifling a giggle, as Verde attempted to teach the child how to say 'Mama'. He did this by slowing and over exaggerating the movements made by the lips to create the desired syllable. It looked hilarious, especially as Verde moved onto other words, such as his own name, which required two different movements, compared to the one repeated movement for the word 'Mama'. For his own name, Verde exaggerated biting his lip to create the 'Ver' sound, before over expressing the movement made between tongue and teeth for the 'day' sound. Verde had made a rather funny expression for that one, snarling his lips in such a way that his teeth were visible. That was one thing she could say for Verde, he wasn't self-conscious and was willing to do things others saw as embarrassing (especially infront of an audience) all in the name of science.

But after half an hour, there had been no progress, except for the muscles in Verde's face hurting from his overstressed actions. Instead, the baby in her arms was giggling madly, pulling all sorts of funny faces and creating some strange noises as he copied what he had seen Verde do. She carried the baby out of Verde's domain and back into the kitchen. She notices what the time is and starts to create something for Tsunayoshi to drink. That done, she takes him outside, so that they can lay in the summer evening together.

She puts Tsunayoshi down on a blanket before opening the parasol and placing him in the shade. She lies beside him, staring up at the clouds in the sky as she thinks of ways to get the others to help teach Tsunayoshi to talk. Most of them wouldn't be back until later on today, in fact, it was only the five of them in the house at the moment. She was sure that Skull would want to have a go, and would be rather prideful if he managed the task first. But she could deal with the gloating that would come afterwards. Lal though… Hmm, she'd have to think more about how she would 'persuade' Lal to get involved in this. She wasn't even going to ask Reborn since she knew of a way he could cheat and she wasn't going to let the Dying Will bullet anywhere near her precious baby boy. She was determined not to let _'Reborn!'_ be the first word Tsunayoshi uttered.

She thinks and she thinks, but eventually she falls asleep in the warm afternoon air.

* * *

><p>When she wakes up, it's unsurprisingly to the sound of an argument. If she had a pound for every time there was an argument, she'd be even richer than Nono. She stretches before looking at the child, noticing that he's wide awake, sitting up and following the argument. Sniping sharp words at each other were Colonnello and Reborn, arguing over who could take a certain hit better and which weapon was the most suited to this particular assassination. It was a time old argument that was never going to be won, only lost due to circumstances. She was just glad that she had barred counting Leon as a weapon, otherwise it would be rather unfair.<p>

"At least I don't have to take any unnecessary risks by getting close up to the target to shoot him in the head, kora!" Colonnello argues, stepping into Reborn's personal space to make his point clear.

Reborn smirks. "That's only because you know you couldn't escape afterwards if you got that close, unlike me."

On and on the argument goes, until it's getting rather boring to listen to. Eventually Skull arrives home and decides he had better get in-between the argument.

"Now now, Reborn-sempai, Colonnello-sempai, can't you two stop arguing?" He made the silly mistake of actually trying to step physically in the middle of the arguing pair. Practically simultaneously a kick and a punch are delivered to Skull, sending him flying backwards.

And the arguing continues.

Until someone else stops it.

"Vroiii, Trash! Heeheehee" Tsunayoshi looks up at all the stunned adults, head titled angelically to the side, giggling and beaming brightly.

Where had he learnt that from?

"_VRRROOOIII! You good for nothing Boss. Get up off your sorry ass and-"_

"_Shut up Trash."_

Ohh, that's where.

"How long has Tsunayoshi been taking naps out here for?" Asks Fon, slightly nervously. It had been summer for a while now, and the Varia were always being noisy…

Luce stands up, brushing non-existent dirt off her dress. "Long enough." She replies. "Now if you'll excuse me." The Arcobaleno watch the woman leave, pitying the poor fools with no volume control.

The Boss and Right Hand Man of Vongola Ninth's Independent Assassination Squad were met and thoroughly disciplined by an angry mother who had been denied the right of having her name as the first word her baby boy spoke. By the end of the week, the whole of Mafia Row had learnt the reasoning behind the miracle that was a silent Varia, and mentally promised themselves to remain as quiet as possible, in case they were to be blamed for any other words the child may learn.

However, Luce was highly ecstatic to learn that the next words her darling spoke were infact "Mamma 'ucie." She could forgive him for missing the L off and mispronouncing the end of her name, Verde assured her that the 'che' sound was currently too hard for him to master. But for her, it was close enough.

* * *

><p><strong>And that, was Tsunayoshi's first word. I hope you liked it. Next chapter is another omake, to make up for me missing an omake between this arc and the last one since I had wanted this arc to start on Mukuro's fandom number. <strong>

**See you next time! And keep those school suggestions coming in~**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 21 February 2013 **


	82. Take a breath and count to ten

Chapter 82

Omake F

Take a breath and count to ten.

**A big thanks to Erephen for her advice on how to write baby talk- she writes the best baby talk I have ****_ever_**** seen. **

**And even though technically Tsunayoshi is learning Italian, I'm still going to write in English. The process is the same.**

* * *

><p><em>"It's about time you all invested some effort into raising this child. He's not mine alone and it's clear he wants love from all of us. So we're going to give it to him. This is the only mission I have you all today. Feel free to share it out amongst yourselves. But if I find that even a single one of you hasn't done their share, there will be consequences… for ALL of you… Alrighty then, have fun~!" <em>

* * *

><p>"Okay Tsunayoshi, all comfortable?" Skull asks, looking down at the boy sat between his legs. They were perched on the edge of Ookado's tank, dipping their feet into the water as relief from the summer's heat. Tsunayoshi nods back up at Skull, smiling brightly.<p>

"Good," Skull smiles back. He leans down over Tsunayoshi's shoulder, pointing to some objects in the distance. "Now look over there, there's Billy, Milly, Tilly, Lilly, Gilly, Dilly, Filly and Sir Quackington." What? It had a top hat and a monocle, what else was he going to call it? Yes, that was the collection of rubber ducks that Skull kept in the bathroom. He had brought them down to help him teach Tsunayoshi something.

"Watch them carefully." Tsunayoshi, who was looking up at him, nods before turning to stare at the rubber ducks. Each one had a defining feature, whether that was lipstick and rose cheeks for Tilly, a mohawk for Gilly, or actually being blue with yellow glow in the dark stars for Dilly.

Skull looks up, across the water to his partner, "Okay Ookado, hit it!"

The huge octopus nods before raising one duck out of the air.

"-illy!" Tsunayoshi shouts, pointing and clapping at the duck raised in the air. He knew which duck that was!

Skull laughs, because the majority of then ended in '–illy.' "I know, but that's not what we're here for today. That is 'one' Tsunayoshi, 'one'." He holds one finger out, pointing to it with the other hand, before pointing to the single duck being held aloft by Ookado. "One. One."

"On'!" Tsunayoshi says, copying Skull.

"Good. Now the next one." Skull congratulates, giving Tsunayoshi a head pat.

Ookado raises two ducks in the air. "That's two ducks. Two." He says slowly and clearly.

"Quack Quack!" Tsunayoshi laughs, pointing to the duck held in Ookado's left tentacle, Sir Quackington.

"Yes, but we're doing something else." Skull says, trying to sound serious. "Listen Tsunayoshi, two." He holds up two fingers. "One, two. Two." He explains, pointing to each finger before doing the same for the two ducks Ookado was holding.

"T'o?" Tsunayoshi asks, tilting his head.

"Yeah! Two." Skull says, smiling again.

"T'o! T'o!" sings Tsunayoshi, holding his hands in the air. His eyes widen and an excited smile brightens his face as he realises he had two hands. He holds them infront of Skull's face, waving them enthusiastically. "T'o!"

"What do you think you're doing?" comes a smug voice from surprisingly close to them. Skull jumps, luckily not dislodging the baby from it's seat.

"Wah, Reborn-sempai! You scared me. What does it look like I'm doing? I'm teaching Tsunayoshi to count. I thought it would be more fun this way." Skull explains defensively.

"Heh, Luce asked us to teach him to count to ten." Reborn states, laughing in Ookado's directions.

"Yeah, and?" Skull asks, crossing his arms. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"Maybe you need refresher classes, idiot. If you knew how to count you'd know there are eight ducks out there, and that Ookado only has eight tentacles." Reborn says, a demeaning smile on his face. Skull wonders where Reborn's going with this. He knew that Ookado only had eight tentacles, all octopi did, otherwise they'd be Decopus instead. "Eight, not ten. Where are the other two coming from?"

Skull's eyes widen. Oh Reaper, how had he not thought of that!

Reborn smirks, pulling his fedora down so only white teeth could be seen. "But don't worry Skull, I'll help you out."

"Oh thank you Reborn-sempai!" Skull says happily in relief. He'd been worried he was going to mess Tsunayoshi's education up. If Tsunayoshi couldn't count to ten he was doomed for the rest of his life and it would be all his fault! He scrambles up and over to Reborn. "So what are you going to do?"

Reborn's smirk turns more devious- if that's even possible. "This." He says before kicking Skull hard. The stuntman goes flying across the tank, landing on top of the floating rubber ducks, creating a loud and wet splash. Skull splutters, trying to regain his balance in the water, his hands thrown into the air to try and grab something. "There, now we have ten." All of Ookado's tentacles were in the air too, trying to decide on the best way to save their master.

Tsunayoshi pouts, understanding that this is a bad thing. "No. Bad Rweborn, bad."

Reborn shakes his head before gathering the brat in his arms and exiting the warehouse, ignoring Skull's shouts and spluttering's. As he crosses the garden he gets a phone call, Leon changing into his mobile for him since it was a work call. Leon was kind enough to transform into a hands-free headset so Reborn didn't have to move Tsunayoshi. When the call was over, Leon detransforms before crawling down Reborn's arm and settling on the child's stomach, waiting to get some attention and petting.

Reborn walks the child inside before going up the stairs and knocking on a dark violet door. When he hears the signal, he opens the door and steps inside.

"I just got a call from my 'contact', I'll be needing that money now." He says, holding his hand out.

Viper grumbles as she writes something down on a piece of paper on her desk. A few seconds later, Fantasma crawls out of her robe, carrying a pile of notes on his back. Reborn didn't need to ask the obvious questions, like whether the notes were traceable, Viper was good at her job. He strides across the room, swapping the money in her palm for the child. Before she can protest, he's walked out the door with a quick thanks.

"My turn is it?" She complains, "Not like I had a choice in the matter."

Tsunayoshi looks at her, wondering why she seemed to be in a bad mood. He pats the tattoos under her eyes, trying to cheer her up. She sighs, tightening her arms around him, before putting him down to sit on her lap. She swivels in the chair, returning to face the desk proper.

"Counting is important, so get it right." She orders. Counting was very important to her and her money. Incorrect counting usually meant a loss, rarely a gain… especially if she was the one counting someone else's money. "Plus I'm wasting time here, so we should get this done quickly."

The baby nods as if understanding what she had just said.

Viper picks up an extremely small but very important pack of cards and gives them a shuffle. She lays the cards out in two rows, before putting the spare cards in a pile to the side.

"On', t'o. Ah… ah…" Tsunayoshi said as she laid them down. He didn't know what came next.

"Three." She says, placing the third card down. "One, two, three."

"Eee?" Tsunayoshi asks, tilting his head as he looks up at her.

She shakes her head before turning the child so he had a better view of her face- Verde had said that being able to see her mouth move helped the process. "Three. Thr-ree."

" 'Ree. 'Rrree!" He says excitedly, thinking he had gotten it.

"Close enough." She supposes, shrugging her shoulders.

She leans back over him to place some more cards on the table. "W-w-o'n… t'o… r-re-'ree… " He repeats as she lays out the cards. As she puts the next one down, he once again realises he doesn't know what's next. He looks at her in distress, flapping his hands and nodding his head in a sign for her to continue.

"Four." She supplies.

"Fo'. Fo', fo'." He repeats back.

"Nearly. Foouuurrr." She says, trying to emphasise the ending sound. Tsunayoshi had nearly been there.

"Fooouu'" He copies, looking like he was concentrating.

Viper nods her head. At least she could tell the difference between this and his attempt at saying Fon.

Fantasma crawls onto the desk before sticking his tongue onto the cards and croaking. Viper looks at him before nodding. "It couldn't hurt. I haven't tried it on him in a few months anyway." The frog nods his head and retracts his tongue. Collecting the cards and shuffling them again, she then place the pack infront of Tsunayoshi. "Pick one up and place it onto the table, picture side up." She asks, miming the motion so he understands.

He nods enthusiastically before grabbing the first one. "On'." He says as he places it onto the table before picking up the next. "T'o. 'Ree. Fou'"

He looks at the cards with the pretty pictures on them, touching and patting the cards since it looked like there was people on them. He couldn't feel any people on them. He tugs Viper's robe and points to the pictures, showing he was done and wanting praise.

"Well done." She mumbles, instead looking at the cards.

They had infact been using a tarot deck, the Major Arcana for the moment, since she had been doing some divinations before Reborn had interrupted. The Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Emperor and The Fool. Hmm, a strange choice of cards. She had some thinking to do.

"Hn, I've done my share, let's find someone else. I have a meeting I need to attend anyway." She says quietly, still half thinking about all the meanings those cards had. She picks the boy up and carries him downstairs.

She practically bangs into Fon as she walks down a corridor, not really concentrating. Fon stops just in time, a hand catching her elbow to keep her upright too.

"Viper, is something-" He stops, noticing that Fantasma was on her head and not inside her robe, along with the altogether hazy aura she had; She'd been doing something spiritual again. He quietly takes Tsunayoshi from her arms, before stepping aside to let her walk past.

"Any idea what she's up to little one?" Fon asks. Tsunayoshi shakes his head, not understanding it either, but half thinking it was his fault "Oh well, best to leave her to her own devices when she's like that." Tsunayoshi nods in acceptance of the advice.

The small child then notices that Fon's not in his usual clothing but something different. He pulls on the new robe, his confusion evident on his face.

"Hm? Oh this?" Asks Fon once he realises what the child wants. "I wear this when I'm training. It allows for freer movement and it doesn't matter if this gets dirty or ripped." With that said, he goes outside, sneaking through the forest in their garden to his training grounds, a flat clear area with a small waterfall and pool to one side. He puts the boy down in the shade, reminiscent of the months previous when Tsunayoshi couldn't even walk, before starting to stretch.

After stretching came the basic warm up movements and patterns of sequential moves. It was calming to fall into the rhythems and patterns, letting his body lead.

"On'!"

Fon stopped in his movements, one arm out in a punch, the other hand in a fist at his hip, legs spread for balance and stability. Surprisingly enough it had been the first move, even though he had continued this pattern, not stopping before the repeat but flowing straight back to the start instead. How Tsunayoshi had known it was the first move, Fon didn't know.

"Yes, one." Fon replies, smiling as the baby.

He then starts the next move when the child doesn't say anything else. The extended arm came back to his hip whilst the other fist slammed out in a left handed punch instead.

"T'o!"

Fon blinks at the baby, "Correct, two."

Next came the most basic of kicks with his right leg. " 'Rrree!" And then his left leg, "Fou'".

The baby was quiet then, observing him the whole time as he always did unless he was asleep. He finished the whole pattern before going back to the beginning.

"On'!"

And so it continued. On the third time, he realised that Tsunayoshi's silence was because he didn't know what came next. "Five." He explains, holding the position for the fifth movement.

" 'Ive? F've?"

"Five." Fon says again.

" 'Ive! 'Ive 'ive 'ive." The boy sings, happily bouncing in place.

Fon pivots on his foot, twists his body slightly and repeats the fifth movement with his left hand. "Six."

"Si'?" Tsunayoshi pouts, knowing that was wrong, it had sounded more like a hiss than a word.

"Try again Tsunayoshi. Six." Fon prods, holding the position until the child got it right.

"Si'… Si's… Si'su." He pauses for a moment, considering that last one. Then his eyes light up and he starts waving his hands around again. "Sis! Sis!"

"Well done Tsunayoshi." Fon praises, smiling gently at the child. "Can you do them all?"

"On', t'o, 'rree, fou', 'ive, sis!" The boy chimes, patting the floor with each number. Liking the sound so much, and proud of his achievement, Tsunayoshi keeps on saying the line of numbers again and again.

Fon sighs, resigning himself to a day of studying the basics. But instead of complaining, he just gets on with it, listening to the child happily singing away to itself repeating those numbers, simply taking pleasure in the child's happiness. Alternatively, he concentrates on making sure that he's not sloppy, that the positions of his chin, shoulders, stomach and hips are correct.

Tsunayoshi grins as he's watching Fon. "On', T'o, Sis!"

Fon stutters for a moment, not expecting the change in numbers, but still follows the child's wishes anyway. Tsunayoshi continues on throwing random numbers at Fon, trying to decide which order he liked them best in.

A little while later and their training session is interrupted.

"Oi, there you are brat. I've been looking everywhere for you." Lal says, walking across the grass to pick the baby up. "You done?" She asks Fon.

The martial artist nods. "I am finished. But what do you want him for?" Lal wasn't one to openly seek Tsunayoshi out. She only ever did for one reason.

"To help me test my useless student. He's gotten cocky with me, so I'm going to teach him a lesson he can't protest to." She explains seriously.

Yeah, that was the only reason- to annoy Colonnello with. Fon sighs, but lets the baby be taken away anyway.

Lal exits the clearing before running through the trees to a different area of the forest. This was their own private training ground, away from the COMSUBIN's watching eyes. Reborn used it sometimes, but in general it was just theirs.

She grins to find Colonnello still struggling in the middle of the rocky ground, hands still bound behind his back, feet still tied together.

"Oh, so you didn't run away then?" Lal asks, walking into the sparse area.

"Of course not. I'm going to show you that I can take anything you throw at me." Colonnello announces defiantly. "You left just to get him? Ha, I can prove myself in front of him too then." He grins at the baby, who giggles and waves in return.

"I'd shut your mouth if I were you." Lal shouts, stopping a safe distance away. She places Tsunayoshi on her hip before grabbing something from a bag on her belt. It was a small black box along with a walkie talkie.

"Lal, what are you going to do with that?" Colonnello asks, recognising that box.

Lal doesn't answer, instead throwing a knife at Colonnello. It lands where she wants it to, a few steps infront of the soldier. "All you have to do is escape."

"Che, that's it? Piece of cake." Laughs Colonnello, wriggling around to get his knees up under him.

Lal turns to Tsunayoshi, "Can you count for me Tsunayoshi?" She asks.

The boy's eyes light up, Lal rarely asked him for anything, or even talked at him. She usually shouted at him to be quiet instead. "Heehee, yes yes!" he replies in glee. "On'."

Lal presses a button.

**Thunk.**

Colonnello just has time to roll out of the way, ungracefully rocking into his back since he still couldn't use his limbs. He stares in shock at the metre long bamboo stick, still quivering in the ground from its force of impact. If that had hit him…

"T'o." Tsunayoshi carried on obliviously, having been looking up at Lal the whole time, looking for some sort of approval.

Colonnello brings his legs up to his chest as a flurry of bullets fly from one of the trees. He rolls over, dodging the bullets, and at the same time, moving further and further away from the knife. As soon as the bullets stop he stops rolling, face down and makes another attempt at standing. It took a little bit of work, not having his arms to push up with, having to rely on his abs and stomach muscles instead. But eventually he gets on his feet and starts to hop towards the knife.

" 'Ree."

Colonnello hears the sound of something being released, and looks around him. There he notices a rope net flying through the air. His eyes widen for a second before narrowing in concentration, madly hopping to find somewhere where the net won't land on him. Luckily it doesn't and settles on the floor behind him. He glares at Lal, who only gives him a look back, before smiling at Tsunayoshi.

"Well done, any more?"

"Yea! Fo'!"

**Beep. Beep. **

Colonnello looks around himself quickly, trying to ascertain where the noise was coming from. He notices Lal speak into the walkie talkie- a number if his lip reading is correct. He looks at the trees around them but can't see anything shining, or any shadows to give away an accomplice's location.

And still the beeping goes on.

Colonnello jumps again, knowing that staying still was a foolish act. The noise continues on getting louder the closer he gets to the knife. The next jump he makes sounds funny during the landing. Things click in Colonnello's mind and he sweeps a foot as best as he can along the ground. A glint of silver and a red flashing light show his thoughts were correct. A landmine. He quickly hops away from it, still towards the knife, hoping that the blast wouldn't be too bad. Lal and Tsunayoshi were quite far away, but close enough to tell him that this blast wouldn't be a fatal one for him.

He's right in his guess. The blast wasn't fatal, but still strong enough to push him to the ground once more.

Because of the blast, he doesn't hear Tsunayoshi show Lal that he can count as high as six.

"Do you know what comes next?" Lal asks, keeping half an eye on the smoke cloud. Tsunayoshi shakes his head. "It's seven. Se-ven."

" 'Even? 'Even!" He cheers when Lal nods.

The smoke clears after their small chat, revealing Colonnello doing something reminiscent of the 80's dace move, The Worm, wiggling with all his might to reach the knife.

"Why don't you tell Colonnello the new number you've learnt?" suggests Lal, watching how stupid and pathetic her student looked.

"'Nello! 'Even!" Tsunayoshi shouts proudly. Colonnello was always telling him how good he was, he'd come over and give him a head pat!

Instead a dripping arrow thunks into the ground infront of Colonnello's face. The soldier didn't even need to guess what the substance was, just knowing it was on there was enough to deter him. With a growl he changes direction- which wasn't easy with how tied up he was.

"Good boy. And next comes eight."

"Ei'," was all of eight Tsunayoshi could manage, but it would do. A jet of water comes out of the trees, soaking Colonnello and the barren earth around him. The ground turns to mud as he wiggles and moves, agitating it. Slowly it gets harder and harder to move. Mud clings to his front and his back, to his hair and even his face. He had to be careful now to not get any in his eyes or else he'd be a goner.

"I think Colonnello wants to hear more of your counting, doesn't he Tsunayoshi?" She asks slyly.

"No I blood-" Colonnello was about to shout, glaring at Lal. But he looks at Tsunayoshi's distraught face, and then at Lal's superior and condescending smirk. Resolves fires up inside him, his competitive streak not letting him lose, not fail infront of Lal. "Of course I'd love to Tsunayoshi. Off you go." He is rewarded with a gleeful nose from the child, and the ominous countdown beings once more.

A few minutes later and he's already tired, the mud dragging him down, his abs and stomach muscles screaming at him from their overuse.

"Why does he keep on saying seven when he can't even pronounce it properly?" Colonnello grumbles to himself, dodging the umpteenth arrow- maybe the archer would run out soon. "I just hope he's not trying to say heaven instead. God knows what Lal's ordered to be put on them."

The problem was, that Colonnello now had the knife in his hands. He had done so for quite a while now. But he hadn't been given the time to stay still long enough to undo his bonds. Tsunayoshi was far too over enthusiastic about his new counting abilities, and it didn't seems like the child would tire or get bored any time soon. Damn him.

However he keeps on concentrating, focusing on slicing at the bonds little by little, knowing they'll all add up eventually.

And finally he does get free.

"I WIN KORA!" he shouts, throwing his hands in the air in a manly winning pose. He looks over towards Lal and Tsunayoshi, a grin on his face, "Told you I could- eh? Where's Tsunayoshi?" The boy wasn't in Lal's arms anymore.

"He left with Reborn about 5 minutes ago." Lal explains, looking at her watch.

Colonnello couldn't believe it. "And you just let me carry on?" Colonnello shouts.

"Of course, you hadn't gotten free yet. So now maybe you'll think before opening that big mouth of yours." She chastises.

Colonnello walks past Lal, tired and ready for a bath. "Never." He grins before running off. It would be a very long time before he stopped making passes at Lal. He grins and laughs to himself as he hears her shout a moment later, no doubt already in pursuit.

Reborn couldn't watch Colonnello crawl around in the mud any longer, and so had taken the child with him, knowing it would annoy the blond to no end.

**Zip. Zip zip. Zip. **

Reborn shot off round after round with his brand new gun that he had gotten less than a half an hour ago. It was what he had gotten the money from Viper for, the phone call earlier telling him it was ready for collection. Tsunayoshi was sat on a chair next to him at the Sasagawa firing range, in a private area designed for people with his level of skills. The gun was silenced to stop it harming either of their ears, especially since they didn't have any ear defenders small enough for the child.

"Nine!"

Reborn shoots six bullets in a perfect circle along the coloured target's area closest to the bull's eye.

"Oh, oh, 'en!" Reborn looks the child in the eyes, a dangerous smile on his face the whole time. In quick succession, six rounds are shot once more. After a moment of quiet, Reborn turns around, and, just like he'd known, there was only one hole, directly in the centre of the target. Six perfect bull's eyes without even looking. Although that was to be expected since the target was stationary.

Reborn walks towards a panel in the wall, tapping in a few commands and codes. Satisfied, he turns towards Tsunayoshi once more. "Stay still and don't move an inch, understand?" The force of Reborn's look would have kept Tsunayoshi in his seat anyway. "So, Tsunayoshi, count to ten in any order you like." He smirks, his superior self-assured look back on.

There are three robotic beeps before a target pokes out of the wall. Reborn points his gun at it, looking at the child still. "Well?"

"Nine." Tsunayoshi replies. Three bullets go through the ninth circle on the target.

Another target peeks out of the ceiling. " 'Ive." Tsunayoshi had said the number quicker this time, so four bullets dart through this target.

Another target comes out of the floor junction. " 'Even." Six bullets through the 7th circle.

Tsunayoshi giggles and claps, but remains as still as possible.

The game continues, with the targets slowly speeding up, and eventually more than one target poking out of the wall at once. But Reborn shoots them all with ease, never once breaking off eye contact with the child. But eventually the gun clicks empty, and Reborn's reaching hand doesn't find any more ammo.

"Hm, seems like the gun works well." Reborn comments, looking at the piece of weaponry. That was quite a nice test run. "C'mon, let's go home." Tsunayoshi nods, reaching up for the carry he knows he's going to get. "Good work brat. You can finally count to ten." He gives Tsunayoshi's hair a quick ruffle before walking back towards the Arcobaleno house.

* * *

><p>Verde looks up from his extensive piles of magazines, journals and professional books, and over to the baby sitting in a playpen playing with the internal organs of a scientific dummy. The child was laughing, making noises and talking to itself, perfectly content. Before the child had come, there had never been any of these scientific journals in Verde's laboratory before. He had had no hand in children ever, nor did he have plans to. However, it was always imperative to get good, evidential advise from professionals who knew their subject. Hence, not long after it became clear that the child really was going to be living with them, Verde had brought or gained subscriptions to every journal that seemed to be of use.<p>

And according to those journals and expert books, this was around the time that the subject should learn how to count. The dates weren't exactly right since Tsunayoshi had learnt to talk at a later date than usual, so he was taking this event in relation to the other. Luce had agreed with him, and had hatched a plan.

So here they were later that night, sitting in comfortable chairs, glasses of fine wine and snacks to hand, rewatching the footage that had been recorded of the Arcobaleno's endeavours today. They hadn't been here because Luce had forcibly dragged Verde to his appointment, giving out a lecture at the top scientific university in the world followed by a Q&A session and book signing. Verde hates social events like this, hence why Luce had been there, to make sure he didn't say something stupid with his harsh demeanour, nor do anything dangerous to escape. She was still working on his social skills.

"They all did well today and had fun doing it," Luce concludes, smiling at the image on screen. "I knew keeping the baby was a good idea."

Verde looks at the cluttered mess his laboratory had become, and then at the child in question- who was sucking on what seemed to be the intestines of the anatomical dummy, at least he wouldn't be able to choke- and wondered if what Luce had just said really was true.

Verde looks at his observational notebook, filled with _changes_ the child had brought. But the question was, were they all good?

* * *

><p><strong>Haha, I don't think omakes are supposed to be longer than normal chapters, but oh well. <strong>

**And please keep on submitting those ideas for the school arc, you have until Thursday!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 24 February 2013**


	83. Omake G Operation C

Chapter 83

Omake G

Operation C.

**I know I said that I'd start the school arc today, but I'm still in the middle of planning it. To be honest I'm rushed of my feet with University work, and because of how large the new arc is going to be, it's taking longer than usual. **

**But, next update, aka Sunday, is a ****very**** important day for Mafia Row, so I want to do something special for it. And I thought it would be better to do another omake than to start and interrupt an arc right at the start. **

**Warnings: Crackish chapter (I don't know what I'm on at the moment… oh yes I do, it's called getting 3.5 hours sleep last night.) and **_**Italics abuse**_**. **

**Have fun~**

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><p>It was one of those rainy days that made you want to do nothing but lounge around in bed all day. One of those lethargic days where one swears it's not <em>rain<em> but Rain _Flames_ falling from the sky, their tranquil nature blanketing the house and sapping energy. The Arcobaleno were all very busy people: if it wasn't work, then it was Tsunayoshi, if it wasn't Tsunayoshi then it was Luce, if it wasn't her it was one of the others. Tsunayoshi may have been a quite baby in general, but that didn't mean he didn't have his moments where he acted his age and cried and cried at the silliest times in the morning. One such incident had happened last night, with little Tsunayoshi scared of a lightning storm.

Another occurrence of a weird phenomenon happened last night. Verde had had the perfect chance to study something that had confused him for a while now. And that was the ability for a baby's cry to travel through walls, be far louder than such a tiny set of vocal chords and lung cavity should be able to produce, and be heard practically anywhere. Verde had been down in his lab at that time- he did some of his best thinking and work during thunder storms- and even he had heard the baby wail. Verde even managed to measure the decibels of the cry and was quite surprised.

But the main thing was, none of the Arcobaleno had gotten any sleep that night. Well, all but one: Viper had just illusioned out the sounds as soon as she knew a thunder storm was coming. She didn't even realise that Tsunayoshi had made a noise during the night. And there was no way in hell that the Arcobaleno were going to wake her up. There were very drastic consequences, both to one's mental state and financial state (It was the first and last time that Lussuria woke Mammon up for breakfast whenever she fell asleep at the Varia Mansion).

Which means that this rainy day was even more lacklustre than usual.

For everyone but a little baby, who was in the mood for an adventure…

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi awoke from his nap in the middle of the living room floor, covered by a blanket. Not that he'd ever be cold, especially when he's surrounded on all sides by fur, feathers, scales and skin. He looks around with blurry eyes, just simply watching the animals in their sleep. Eventually he makes contact with a pair of glowing yellow eyes. It had been Leon's turn to keep watch whilst the others slept, so he had been awake. Seeing that the baby is awake too, he crawls over and licks the baby's cheek. Tsunayoshi giggles, before giving Leon a very gentle pat- Leon was only small after all.<p>

The giggle had woken the other animals up, who were as light sleepers as their masters' were. Cosmo scampers up Tsunayoshi's arm to settle like he always did with Luce, on top of the head.

"Adabadaba!" _(Good Afternoon, sleep well?)_ Tsunayoshi burbles happily, waving his hand whilst trying to look at the squirrel on his head.

Falco hops over, running its beak through Tsunayoshi's feathers, trying to sort out the horrendous case of Bed-feathers the child had. It was almost as bad as Verde's after he'd been shocked with a few thousand volts. Tsunayoshi sits there, letting the bird do what it wanted, giving a stroke to the bird's chest feathers. It was amazingly clean for a bird that followed two mud covered soldiers and COMSUBIN members. Eventually the hawk hops backwards, tilting it's head to both sides to judge how good a job he had done.

"_How does he get his feathers to stay that fluffy? Even Cosmo's isn't that fluffy." Wonders Falco. _

_The wide-eyed, cute, fluffy fluffy fluffy squirrel looks up from his perch, having been forced to move when Falco started his ministrations. "Huh? Me?" He asks innocently, knowing perfectly well what they were talking about. "I'm not sure, but it makes a great place to sleep in."_

"_It does." Nods Leon, having slept there before now too. The rest are jealous since they are too large to fit comfortably in the boy's hair without harming him. _

Tsunayoshi watches the animals talk amongst themselves, wondering what they are talking about and whether he can join in the conversation too. A chitter comes from his left, along with a tug to his hippo pyjamas. Tsunayoshi looks across to find it was Lichi who had been tugging, holding his beaker of watered down juice in her tail. Clapping his hands, he chortles thankfully before picking the tiny monkey up and placing her in his lap, where he could give her a proper pat and scratches. He takes the beaker from her tail, sucking on it whilst looking around the room.

Hmm, that was strange, none of the adults were around. Not that he minded, he was sure the animals could do a good job of looking after him.

He puts the now empty beaker of juice down next to him, wondering what he should do next. A grumble from his tummy decides that for him. He needed some food. And he knew exactly what he wanted too. He had been on solid food for a few months now, and he was rather partial to a cookie. One of Luce's hand-made chocolate chip cookies. The ones that were all crumbly, with chocolate chips that you could suck on. Heaven. And he happened to know that Luce had made some yesterday, he'd been there to 'help' after all. (Helping was known as getting snowed on by flour whilst Luce wasn't looking and eating at least half of the chocolate chips before they made it into the bowl. Although Lal had helped with that bit, stealing some as she came into the kitchen for a sandwich.)

"Babayadaba." _(I'm hungry. I want a cookie.) _He explains to the animals around him, waving his hands in the air.

"_Any idea what that was about?" Asks Fantasma, looking at the others. They all shrug. None of them could talk whatever language Tsunayoshi was talking. So he stomps up to the baby, staring him in the eyes, murky red to bright brown. "Make yourself clear for heaven's sake. You're always bothering my mistress, making her talk for you. It's about time you learnt to talk for yourself!" He growls. Maybe he should change form and scare him with a flying snake. That'd teach the brat. _

_Fantasma was just about to until a scaled paw drops on top of him, pressing him lightly into the carpet. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't comfortable either. "Jealousy is so unbecoming, although I suppose I can't expect much better from you." Drawls Keiman, not having moved since he had woken up. "If you still want those hugs and cuddles you so desire then you must not be trying hard enough. It is no fault of the child that he is more interesting that you are."_

_Falco gives out a squawk-ish laughter, watching as the frog glared a hole into the carpet. Leon trots around to be in Fantasma's eye-line, having to lay in the floor to get low enough. "Do you want me to save you?" He asks innocently. The frog hisses back. _

"Uh-uh." _(Up-Up.) _Tsunayoshi demands, pulling on Keiman's leg slightly. Keiman relents, retracting his paw.

A loud grumble sounds, and everyone, Tsunayoshi included, look at the child's stomach. Tsunayoshi puts a hand on it before looking in the direction of the kitchen. It was about time to go find that cookie. So he gets onto all fours and starts crawling towards the kitchen.

"_Oh, so he's hungry." Lichi comments, watching the child crawl away. "Aren't his paws going to get cold like that though? He's got no fur on them." The others look and see that Tsunayoshi doesn't have any shoes or socks on, nor any gloves of any kind. _

_Keiman sighs. "My partner wouldn't want his subject to come down with a cold. Someone go fetch them." He takes a few steps forwards, grabbing the back of Tsunayoshi's clothing gently in his jaws, making sure not to catch the skin. The baby crawls for a few more steps before realising it's no longer going anywhere. It stops, sitting in the middle of the floor, pouting cutely. _

_Falco flies off, searching from the air for any sign of the removable fur the humans wore. Eventually he finds a pair, and picks them up in his claws before flying back downstairs. He drops them before landing back on the floor again. Lichi catches the socks, and along with Cosmo, helps put them on the child's hind paws. _

Now fully clothed, Tsunayoshi makes his second attempt at crossing the living room. Luckily this time, no one stops him. After a minute or so of heavy-duty crawling, he came to the door of the kitchen. He sits against the wall catching his breath. When he looks up, it's to find that all of the animals have followed him.

"Bbbyadoba?" (_What are you all doing here?) _He asks, tilting his head and waving a hand at them.

"_We're coming with you." Cosmo explains having guessed from the child's expression and gesture. _

"_We're not letting you out of our sight." Continues Leon, taking a step forwards to rub his cheek against Tsunayoshi's knee. The others all nod in agreement, making quiet growls or squawks. _

Tsunayoshi gets the message that the animals are along for the ride. "Ababba-da-da. Da-ba-be-doo-boo. Kibadadoo." _(Okay. Your mission, if you do choose to accept it, is to distract whoever is in the kitchen long enough for me and the others to get some cookies. There should be enough left for us to share.)_

_The animals stare at the boy for a long time, before finally turning to each other. "I didn't get that one either." Admits Lichi. _

"_I think he wants to play hide and seek with whoever is in the kitchen." Leon guesses, pointing with his head back in Tsunayoshi's direction. The child was peering around the door, trying to see who was inside without actually stepping into the room yet. _

"_Plus we know he's hungry." Cosmo adds. "He must be after food without our partners knowing."_

"_Maybe he wants something sweet? They don't get the sweet stuff out until later." Adds in Falco. _

_They look back in the child's direction, only to find him looking at them. Seeing that he now has their attention, he grins before patting the floor three times. And then he crawls as fast as his little chubby legs will allow. _

"_Hey, what? Wait!" Chirp the others in surprise. And wow could the babe move fast. They tumble over each other in their rush to follow and watch over the errant child._

_In the kitchen, they find Colonnello, singing along to the radio loudly as he makes himself some sort of snack. Tsunayoshi is half way between the door and the table, still crawling as fast as he could go. Seeing that Colonnello was about to turn around, Keiman, Lichi and Falco rush to stand in-between the soldier and the child, effectively blocking one's sight of the other. Cosmo runs up Colonnello's clothing, eventually sitting on his shoulder. He titters cheekily, emitting a high pitched squeak-laugh to Colonnello's ears, before biting one of the man's earlobes. _

Colonnello yelps and jumps at the shock and pain- little blighter bites hard- hands flying to his ear. He pulls his fingers away for a second to find a small bit of blood. "Oi, kora! What've I done to you?" He shouts, trying to catch the animal scampering around his body like a race track. Cosmo decides that running down Colonnello's back is a bad idea since he had almost turned around fully that last time, so instead the squirrel runs down the inside of Colonnello's trouser leg.

Across the room, the other animals have made it under the table safely, generally out of sight of Colonnello.

"Gyuuba-ba. Aaaahbada-woo." _(Good, he didn't see us. Now we just need to get up there.) _Tsunayoshi says, looking at the animals, waving a hand first at Colonnello, and then up in the direction of the biscuit box where he knew the prize would be.

"_Yeah, he's after the cookies. I can't blame him, they are very nice." Leon confirms. _

"_Do you think Cosmo will be okay?" Lichi asks, ducking down to look up at the adult warring with a furball._

"_Of course he will be. He's Luce's pet after all, no one would risk harming him. Luce gives them more fur that they hate otherwise." Keiman supposes, taking a glance too. It was rather funny watching their partners run away from her._

"_So how are we going to get him up there?" Falco asks, looking up and up and up to where the kitchen counter was. _

_All eyes flick to Leon since he's the super-duper transformational chameleon. "Me?" He asks. "Err… Instead maybe we should-" Leon whispers his plans to the others. _

_Keiman, grabs the back of the baby's clothing once again, stopping Tsunayoshi from going anywhere and getting caught. He sits down under the table and curls up around the child, letting the boy try and grab his flicking tail to keep him entertained. _

_Meanwhile, Falco grabs Lichi and flies her to the top of the kitchen counter. The Biscuit box was too large and the wrong shape for Falco to be able to grab it himself. Instead, Lichi does, picking it up and taking it to the edge of the counter. With a quick glance to make sure that Colonnello isn't watching, Lichi drops the biscuit box over the edge, before jumping down after it. Leon was waiting at the bottom, in the form of a trampoline. The box bounces slightly before landing on Fantasma's back. From there, Lichi removes it and places it on the floor. _

"_Oi, Cosmo, we've got them!" Falco caws. _

_The squirrel lets out a squeak before leading Colonnello out of the room and hiding under a sofa. Whilst the soldier tears up the living room looking for 'the damned rat', Cosmo sneaks back in and joins everyone under the table. They pry the lid of the box off before each grabbing a biscuit. _

Within seconds, Tsunayoshi has reduced his cookie to crumbs, getting them all over his knees, but it was _soo_ much easier to eat it this way.

"Dabado!" (Thank you~!) Tsunayoshi says before tucking in vigorously.

* * *

><p>Out in the living room, Colonnello grins, pressing the stop button on his phone. That was so much bribery material for Luce right there! Oh, the things he could ask for with this footage as leverage. She wouldn't be able to stop cooing at the video he had just recorded. It was worth the one little bite just to see the animals look after Tsunayoshi for a day.<p>

Talking of animals, Ookado had sulked for days after having heard what he missed out on. Although he didn't mind too much. He had had a lot of fun playing the role of the Kraken in Skull's latest Gig over in Australia. At least it had been warm, unlike Mafia Row at the moment.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was inspired by a YouTube video I watched when getting inspiration for the baby talk. It's called "<strong>_**Twin baby talking to each other translated". **_**It made me giggle the first time I saw it, and it's about this one baby trying to convince his twin to help him get a cookie. Plus I haven't written in the Arcobaleno Partners for a while, so I decided why not. Although I'm worried about my sanity if after watching that video, this chapter is the first thing I think about, damn plunnies.**

**Anyway, I'll see you all next Sunday for the special chapter. I'm not sure what I'm doing yet, I'll just have to wait and see~**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 28 February 2013**


	84. Omake H Happy Families Part 1

Chapter 84

Omake H.

Happy Families. Part 1

**Mafia Row ABC:**

**A is for the Arcobaleno**

**B is for the Baby they brought home**

**C is for the Care they gave him**

**D is for the Differences this baby brought**

**E is for Everyone the baby was introduced to**

**F is for the Friends that Tsunayoshi made**

**G is for the Growing Family they got**

_**H is for Happy Birthday!**_

**Mafia Row is now 1 year old! Can you believe that? We've gone through alot together, from finding Tsunayoshi, to introducing him to nearly the entire KHR cast, to gaining Bermuda as one of the Arcobaleno, to finding out about this mysterious fight in the future, and what Sky had done with Tsunayoshi. Then we had a day in the life of an Arcobaleno, Tsunayoshi's first witness of a killing, Tsunayoshi getting kidnapped, then his adventure to the Canon Dimension, and finally getting possessed by Mukuro and gaining Mukuro, Chrome, Ken, Chikusa and Hayato as 'housemates'. **

**That's a lot of stuff. **

**I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed our journey so far, and I hope that you all will be coming along with me for the rest of the ride- an extremely long ride at that. **

**Thanks you so much to the few people who have already wished Mafia Row a happy birthday. **

**To my Guest reviewer: Thank you so much for the wonderful compliments you left, I appreciate them a lot XD**

**And on this special occasion, the plot bunnies decided to leave me to fend for myself. But eventually one decided to wiggle its rabbity ears at me when I was reading through reviews. So ****PN1428,**** you gave me a Valentines Plot Bunny on Valentine's Day, so I thought I might as well do it now. I wanted this chapter to be one filled with the WHOLE of Mafia Row, and so it is.**

**So to all my dear readers… Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>"Right Natsu, are you ready for this? It's going to be hard, but I'm sure we can do it. We <em>have<em> to do it."

"Shh! Natsu! We have to be quiet. We're on a Super Secret Sneaky Spy Mission."

"Exactly, our mission is very important, so we can't mess it up."

"Have we got everything Natsu? You sure? We can't come back… Good. Right, let's go then."

"Mamma Luce, I'm going to go play!" Tsunayoshi announces, putting on his shoes and his dog coat that went down to his knees.

"Okay then Tsunayoshi. Have fun." Luce says from her position on the sofa watching the latest episode of a show she had recorded. Her eyes only left the screen for a moment, watching the boy leave out of the back door, before dramatic music and a woman's scream drew her attention back to the television. Oh no! Who had shot Jenny? Quick where's the remote?! Rewind!

Tsunayoshi gently shuts the door behind himself before crossing the garden. He made a few quick checks, scanning the windows to see if anyone was watching him. He couldn't feel anyone's gaze on him, nor were there any shadows at the windows. It seemed that no one had notic-

"Oya Oya, where are you off to, my dear Tsunayoshi?"

… Noticed him… Tsunayoshi turned back around to face front, seeing Mukuro rather up close. He took a step backwards, quickly looking back at the house, before grabbing Mukuro and hauling him towards the bushes and trees.

"Mukuro! Be quiet." Tsunayoshi hisses, "I'm trying to sneak-"

"Tsunayoshi-sama! Good Afternoon!" Hayato shouts, running over towards them.

Tsunayoshi runs towards him and quickly places a hand over his mouth. "Shh, Hayato. Not so loud." He peers behind him, making sure that the shrubbery isn't moving. Hayato nods, so Tsunayoshi removes his hand. "Let's go back to your house. I don't want them to find me."

Mukuro raises an eyebrow at Tsunayoshi's weird behaviour, but follows the little boy carrying a lion plushie back towards his house. Hayato runs ahead to hold open the door for him, bowing Tsunayoshi-sama inside. He glares at Mukuro before making sure to walk in directly behind Tsunayoshi-sama. Mukuro glares at the silveret's back but follows them inside anyway.

Gokudera Hayato was annoying at times, very brash and so easily flustered. Mukuro loved to exploit that fact, and often sharpened his tongue on the bomber boy. It causes lots of arguments, many involving bombs and illusions. Lancia had slowly learnt to deal with these arguments, but no matter how many times he removed the bombs from Hayato's person, they always made it back. Similarly, Mukuro's trident disappeared before he had a chance to take it. However the boys knew their limits, and their shared pasts and hatred of the Mafia system gave them some tolerance of each other.

"_Tsunayoshi!"_

Tsunayoshi's eyes widen. "Oh no. I've run out of time. Natsu, we've got to be quick!" He spins on his feet, facing Mukuro before giving the older boy a hug. "Happy Valentine's Day Mukuro!" Before Mukuro can react in any way, or even change his look into a sarcastic smirk, Tsunayoshi's let go and pounced on Hayato. "Happy Valentine's Day Hayato!" The bomber turns as red as his favourite colour, stuttering and spluttering as if he didn't have a genius mind, frozen to the spot. Tsunayoshi jumps back, sees this and gives Hayato a smile and a quick hair ruffle before running into the shared living room.

"Chrome! Happy Valentine's Day." He sings, running across to the sofa she was on. He gives her a quick kiss on the cheek, then makes Natsu give her one too, which makes Chrome giggle, before running across to the other two. "Happy Valentine's Day Ken, Chikusa!" He hits Ken lightly on the head with Natsu before doing the secret handshake with Chikusa. Then he's off running again, this time into the kitchen. He climbs onto the table to see Fuuta. "Hello Fuuta," He smiles. He takes a teddy bear chocolate lollipop out of his bag before waving it in Fuuta's face. "Happy Valentine's Day." The child giggles before taking the lollipop and sucking on it.

"And a Happy Valentine's Day to you too Tsunayoshi. You're rather energetic today." Lancia says, looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

Tsunayoshi places a few things onto the table, rolling one of the items across to Lancia. "And to you Lancia. I'm really busy today. I've got to work hard and sneak behind Reborn's back."

"_Tsunayoshi?!"_

"Ah! They're coming. You can't tell anyone I've been here. Quick sign this!" Tsunayoshi quickly placed a pen and a piece of paper infront of Lancia. Seeing the boy's frantic expression and the way he kept on looking at the door, Lancia quickly signed the blank piece of paper. Tsunayoshi smiles brightly, giving a quick 'Thank you' before running out of the back door.

The residents of The Shed look at the door the child has just exited from, pondering why he was in such a hurry. They look at the table to find a few chocolate truffles sitting there, one for each of them.

"Why is he trying to hide from the Arcobaleno?" Lancia asks rhetorically, since Tsunayoshi had mentioned Reborn and it was Fon's voice he was running from.

Fuuta giggles, waving the chocolate in the air before he stills. "I hear you Ranking Planet…"

Lancia groans as things start floating around the room. He still forgot about Fuuta's ranking ability.

Tsunayoshi runs in the opposite direction to where he heard Fon shouting from. He takes the long way around the house, running down the Eastern wall instead of the closer Western wall, but Fon was sure to spot him if he went that way.

He gets as close to the gate as he can, now there was only the open stretch of grass between him and escape. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out without being noticed.

"Yare Yare, what are we going to do with you?" Tsunayoshi spins around, scared that he had been caught, but instead finds Mukuro carrying Chrome, both hiding in the bushes like he was. "Trying to escape like an orange clad prisoner from a prison." Mukuro smirks.

Tsunayoshi pouts, it wasn't his fault that his favourite colour happened to be orange. Then he looks down and remembers that he's not even wearing orange at the moment, instead he was wearing his brown dog coat and black trousers, shoes and shirt: His sneaking spy costume _a la Luce._ He frowns at Mukuro for the misleading joke. Mukuro smiles happily back, a smug look in his eyes.

"Anyway, I don't know why you are trying to escape this cage, but we'll help you out. It's going to be fun going against the Arcobaleno. I never imagined you would, my dear Canary." Mukuro raises an eyebrow, waiting for a reaction, but one didn't come. Or at least not the one he was expecting.

"You will? How are you going to help?" Tsunayoshi asks eagerly, eyes shining bright.

"Kufufu, we shall. Chrome and I can cast an illusion to hinder their sight of you." Tsuayoshi opened his mouth to protest, but Mukuro carried on. "That is why I have Chrome here with me. Together we can create something that has a chance of affecting the Arcobaleno, but it will be for a very limited time, and could be broken easily if they wanted to." Tsunayoshi nods gravely.

A cloud of mist covers the hands of the siblings, and their tridents have appeared.

"… Good luck." Chrome whispers. Together they stamp their tridents on the ground, and a billowing cloud of mist covers the gate.

Tsunayoshi runs forwards, the cloud not hindering his sight in the slightest and quickly unlocks the gate. He had watched the others enough times to know how it was done. He quickly slips through the gap and closes the door behind himself.

Now out in Mafia Row, he slips across the pavement and across to Aria's gate, on the look out for any of the Arcobaleno. He knocks on the gate, surprised when it opens almost immediately.

"Come on in little one." Says Gamma, a small frown on his face. "She's in her office." Tsunayoshi nods, running quickly through the Giglio Nero house. Once in the house, he puts his back to the wall, tucks Natsu under his arm before holding his hands in a gun position. He slides across the wall, peering around corners before continuing onwards. He smiles and greets anyone who says hello to him. All the adults smile and gently laugh to themselves over the antics of the child, wondering why he was acting so.

"Hey, what's Tsunayoshi doing?" Asks Tozaru, watching the child slink around a corner.

Gamma sighs. "Acting stupid as usual." He replied, before striding forwards and picking Tsunayoshi up. "I'd imagine that you don't have time for messing around?"

Tsunayoshi nods and lets himself get carried, ready to jump out of Gamma's arm if he sensed any of the Arcobaleno. However they make it without incident to Aria's office. Gamma knocks on the door before letting himself in and then putting the boy down.

"Good afternoon Tsunayoshi." Aria says smiling gently at the boy.

"Happy Valentine's Day Aria!" Tsunayoshi says in return, more calmly than he had done to his friends earlier. Aria was always a very calm person and made the people around her calm too. He jumps onto a chair before taking a handful of the sweets out of his bag and placing them on her desk. He then looks down at his shoes. "I didn't have enough time to make one for all of the Giglio Nero." He reports sadly.

Aria's smile grows as she rubs the boy's back in consolation. "Don't worry sweetie. I know who to give these too."

Tsunayoshi smiles back up at her. "You do?"

Aria nods.

"_You really don't need to escort me every single time I come here Gamma. I know my way around."_

"_Of course you do Lady Luce, but your standing demands an escort."_

Tsunayoshi's gasps before looking for an exit. "I can't let her catch me."

Aria nods sagely before picking the boy up and placing him under the desk.

"Good Afternoon Aria!" says Luce happily as she throws the doors open. Gamma is behind her, looking apologetic that he couldn't stop the energetic woman from entering.

"Ah, Gamma, perfect timing. I need this package to be removed." She gestures to a bag on the floor behind her desk.

Gamma frowns slightly, not remembering what was in that bag earlier, but goes to follow his Boss's orders anyway. When he picks the bag up, it's far heavier than he was expecting.

"What's in there dear? An old computer or something?" Luce asks casually.

"Hmm? Oh no, nothing like that. Those are all the invitations for the Spring Ball I had written. Someone had informed me that Giglio Nero were hosting it, but I was informed this morning that it was a mistake. So I no longer need those thousands of invitations. And weren't they pretty? All my hard work's gone to waste." Aria hands one of the invitations over for her mother to take a look at.

In the meantime, Gamma makes his escape. He puts the bag down just infront of their gate. "Did you do what you needed to?" He asks as Tsunayoshi climbs out of the bag.

Tsunayoshi nods, leaning down to grab Natsu too. "Yeah. I just need you to sign this piece of paper." Gamma frowns once more, not having a clue as to why he needed to sign a piece of paper, but did so anyway, just to make the brat leave quicker. "And make sure to see Aria with Nozaru and Tozaru before Aria eats your presents. You know how much she likes chocolate." Gamma nods slowly, knowing the truth behind that statement. This was why he hated Valentines, Aria got far too much chocolate during this time.

With a quick glance to check that Luce hadn't spotted him- he didn't realise that her episode was going to finish _that_ quickly- he slips out of the gate and sneaks his way towards the next house.

A scan of his palm print lets him into the Guesso house, and he quickly runs inside before he's spotted. With a sigh of relief he walks down the corridor, letting Natsu check around the corners for him.

"Hm-hmm. I see a sugar fairy has descended upon us~"

Tsunayoshi jumps, almost screaming if it wasn't for a hand over his mouth. "What brings the fairy to my domain?" Byakuran asks, leaning forwards close to Tsunayoshi's face. He remembers to remove his hand first.

"Happy Valentine's Day Byakuran!" Tsunayoshi replies, not even bothering to lean backwards.

"Oh yes, a happy day indeed, Hmm-hmm. A whole day dedicate to the sugar that is romance. But what makes it even happier is all of the chocolate. Did you know that more than 36 million boxes of chocolate will be sold for this special occasion?"

"No I didn't. How can you even make that much chocolate?" Tsunayoshi asks. Byakuran only waves a hand in answer, saying it didn't matter. "I don't have that much chocolate, but I do have some for everyone." He reaches into his bag and plucks out some chocolates. "Here you go." He then gives Byakuran a mock glare. "Don't eat them all yourself. Make sure to give them to the others too." Byakuran laughs, but promises nothing. Tsunayoshi rolls his eyes at that before handing the paper over to be signed. Byakuran instead drew a smiling marshmallow, but it would serve Tsunayoshi's purposes.

"Are Shoichi and Spanner in?" Tsunayoshi asks, starting to walk down the hall towards their lab. Byakuran slings an arm over Tsunayoshi's shoulder as they walk.

"Of course they are Tsunayoshi. Going to give them some fairy dust too?" Byakuran asks, his smile never leaving his face.

"Of course!" Tsunayoshi says, beaming at Byakuran before pushing open the door to the mechanic's lab. "Happy Valentine's Day Spanner and Shoichi!"

The pair look up from where they were drawing a picture and smile at Tsunayoshi. The boy skips over to their work station and takes a look at the picture. Another robot. Again. He smiles, before laying down two of the sweets where the robot's eyes would be. "Make sure to eat these okay. Sugar is good for the brain, right Spanner?" Tsunayoshi laughs because it was Spanner who had told him so. Spanner nods, picking up the sweet and taking a look at it. "And make sure that Byakuran doesn't eat them all, the others should all get one." He looks back at Byakuran, giving off a scarily sweet smile that Byakuran knows not to defy.

"_Oh-ho~ back again Verde? We are very honoured to have you grace our halls once again. I'm sure those two will be delighted to see you."_

"_Hn."_

"No, Verde's here!" Tsunayoshi hisses, looking around frantically. Why were they following him today? "Look, I wasn't here okay? Don't tell and I'll make you some more of these okay?" Byakuran nods vigorously, running cross the room to place his hands over Spanner and Shoichi's mouths. He was not being denied more sweets.

"Fairies don't exist right?" Byakuran says, smiling fakely sweetly. The pair of mechanics nod too.

"Good, so how can I get out of here?" Tsunayoshi asks, still looking around. Out of the window maybe?

Spanner walks forwards slowly as usual before pushing Tsunayoshi into a robot they were working on. It was made out of cardboard at the moment, but it was only a rough design.

The door opens soon after, and Verde sees Spanner drawing lights and bolts onto their life sized robot design, with Shoichi and Byakuran talking about making a machine to create marshmallows for them.

"I'm going to work on this outside." Spanner announces. "Better light." The other two nod and continue on with their discussion.

Verde doesn't care, instead turning towards Shoichi. "What did you make with the parts I gave you this time?"

Tsunayoshi gasps in relief once they make it outside- the robot had been on a trolley so they could move it around the lab easily. Plus it had been hot in that box. "Thanks Spanner." Spanner smiles, handing Tsunayoshi a cherry red spanner-pop before continuing to draw lights onto the robot design.

Tsunayoshi escapes from the house, knowing that there was no need to worry about Verde since he would be too involved in whatever project he had going with the child mechanics.

The next place on Tsunayoshi's list was Dino's house. Romario greets Tsunayoshi before taking him to the back of the house where Dino was reading a book in the sun- homework.

"Hey Big Bro Dino~" Tsunayoshi waves, standing over the blond and creating a shadow across the book. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

Dino grins, rolling over and standing up. "Happy Valentine's Day to you too Tsunayoshi."

He raises an eyebrow when Tsunayoshi starts looking around suspiciously. "Reborn's not about is he?" Tsunayoshi whispers. Dino laughs and grins, thinking Tsunayoshi was wanting to get away from the demon tutor from hell- like he wants, but he knew the feat was easier said than done.

"No no, Reborn's not here. I haven't seen him all week." Then Dino gulps. That meant he was due to arrive soon! Dino shivers.

Tsunayoshi relaxes slightly after hearing that. "Phew, that's good. Then I can give you these." He reaches into his bag and pulls out three chocolate truffles. "This one I made especially for Enzo, Luce says he can eat this one." He says, pointing to a green wrapped sweet. "The other one is for Romario."

"Aww, lil' bro that's awesome!" Dino says, hugging Tsunayoshi. "I'll make sure he gets it. But I don't have anything for you." He pouts, checking his pockets for sweets.

"Don't worry, you can help me by signing this. I'm using it to prove Reborn wrong." Dino grins evilly with Tsunayoshi at that before quickly signing the paper. Anything to prove Reborn wrong.

"_Young Master, Fon has arrived to see you."_

Dino looks confused, wondering why Fon was here. Tsunayoshi on the other hand panics.

"Oh no, if Fon finds me than he'll take me back and prove Reborn right!" Now where to run, the pond or the flower bush?

Dino too starts to panic, not wanting to be the reason Tsunayoshi couldn't prove Reborn wrong. In his panic he trips, slamming into Tsunayoshi and sending them both into the flower bush. Luckily it didn't have thorns, but the bark was a little rough.

Fon walks around the house to find Dino face first in a plant and sighs. "It's no wonder Reborn asked me here to work on your balance." He shakes his head- he didn't think it was possible to trip as much as the young Dino did. "Meet me in the gazebo once you've patched yourself up, we'll start our first lesson then." And then he walks past.

Dino looks up, waiting for Fon to walk past the rose trellises and out of sight before clambering off of Tsunayoshi.

"Hehe, sorry little brother, the plant root tripped me up." Dino says, holding a hand out to help Tsunayoshi up.

"That's alright Dino. I hope you have fun with Fon!" He then runs off, smiling at Romario when he opened the gate.

Sticking low to the grass to avoid suspicion, he crawls all the way to the Bovino house. Another scan of his palm print gets him in here as well- as Verde-sama's subject, he apparently had the right.

When he gets inside the house, he's met by Vittorio and Lambo who are coming up the stairs leading to the main laboratory.

"Tsunayoshi!" Lambo screams. "Candy candy candy~" He makes grabbing hands towards Tsunayoshi, knowing that he always had a sweet for him (Tsunayoshi had learnt his lesson after coming here the first time).

"Good Afternoon Tsunayoshi." Vittorio says, adjusting his glasses with one hand before peering through them at Tsunayoshi. "It is a rare phenomenon to see you here without Verde. I believe this has happened only 3 times with in my memory. Are you here to play with Lambo again?"

"No sir." Tsunayoshi says shaking his head whilst walking closer. "I'm here to give this to Lambo for Valentine's Day." He holds up one of the candies. Lambo's eyes widen before he rudely snatches it out of Tsunayoshi's hand. It is immediately consumed, the baby making pleased sounds as it sucked on the sweet. Lambo then reaches out for Natsu wanting something fluffy to cuddle in preparation for nap time. Tsunayoshi lifts Natsu up to let Lambo stroke him. It isn't until a little too late that he realises that Lambo has sticky sugar coated hands.

Tsunayoshi recoils, taking a few steps backwards and brushing off as much of the sugar as he can.

"I am sorry for that Tsunayoshi. Lambo likes to take toys with him before nap time in his crib. The substance will come off if you-" Vittorio proceeds to tell Tsunayoshi a lengthy scientific way to remove sugar from the fibre strands. "But I'm sure that Verde can do that for you." Tsunayoshi nods, not having gotten a word of the explanation anyway.

"Wahhh! Nap time!" Lambo demands, starting to bawl tears.

Vittorio sighs, bouncing Lambo on his hip to appease the child. "I shall be leaving then Tsunayoshi."

"Oh, before I forget here's one for you too. Do you mind signing this for me?" Tsunayoshi asks, holding up both sweet and paper. Vittorio nods, pocketing the sweet. He didn't mind signing for the sweet either, used to that being scientific policy for deliveries and chemical permissions and such.

Tsunayoshi makes his exit before Lambo can demand to keep Natsu.

The walk to the next house takes a little longer, but there were plenty of trees to hide behind along the way. He politely knocks on the door to the GateKeepers House. He isn't surprised when Kyoya drops from the tiled roof, tonfa ready to strike downwards.

Tsunayoshi jumps backwards, hissing as dust blooms around them from Kyoya's impact. Kyoya leaps forwards, one tonfa at stomach height, the other at head height. Ducking, Tsunayoshi raises one hand to defend his head with, before rolling backwards before Kyoya can change his attack.

"Good Afternoon Tsunayoshi. What brings you here today?" Tetsuya asks, sitting on the veranda chewing a grass stem as always.

"Afternoon Tetsuya. I came to give you these." He throws Natsu high into the air reaching into the bag to grab what he wanted. Kyoya ignores the plushie taking a flying trip, knowing from experience that attacking the lion named Natsu was a very bad idea. He had been thoroughly thrashed by the herbivore last time he had done so and he wasn't in the mood for a full on battle at the moment.

Tsunayoshi uses one of Fon's kicks to block the next tonfa attack since his hands were busy; as his foot comes back in contact with the ground again, he ducks and swerves around Kyoya's body, coming up at his back before throwing four sweets at Tetsuya. He catches Natsu before turning round, plushie raised, to face Kyoya once more. Kyoya freezes, inches away from the neck of the lion cub.

"What are these for Tsunayoshi?" Tetsuya asks, holding the sweets up.

"I came to say Happy Valentine's Day, and those are sweets for you all. There's one for both of Kyoya's parents in there too." Proper manners demanded so. "This one in yellow is sunflower seeds for Hibird." Tsunayoshi states, holding the final sweet, and walks across to hand the more delicate package to Tetsuya before getting him to sign the paper.

Kyoya drops his tonfas and steps away in disgust. "Such a useless holiday, only causing chaos. It's undisciplined." He had been warned by his parents the lengths some people would go to hand out Valentine's chocolate.

Tsunayoshi gulps, taking a few steps away from Kyoya.

"You came here for that?" The GateKeeper asks in a quiet voice.

"Err… yes?" Tsunayoshi replies. "Heeii! I'm leaving now!" He runs off quickly before Kyoya can come after him.

"Tch. Still an herbivore." Tuts Kyoya before turning away from the path. Sweets were not his thing, but it would be undisciplined of him not to eat something someone had bothered to hand deliver to him.

Tsunayoshi stands back on the main Mafia Row, hands on knees panting from his close escape.

"Oh, Tsunayoshi, are you alright?"

Tsunayoshi looks up and sees Bianchi, holding a purple heart shaped box. He stands up straight, eyes on her hands the whole time. Who knew if she was keeping some rocket or pineapple leaves on her to turn into knives at any given moment? "Yes, I'm fine, I was just leaving the GateKeeper's house." Bianchi nods in understanding, most people left either running or crawling from that direction. Tsunayoshi was one of the lucky few to be running.

"Who are you giving that to?" Tsunayoshi asks, daring to point at the suspiciously normal looking purple box tied with a red ribbon.

"To my love Reborn of course!" Bianchi swoons, eyes glittering at the mere thought of Reborn. "It is the day of Love after all."

Tsunayoshi nods, reaching into his bag to pull another sweet out. "Yeah, Happy Valentine's Day Bianchi!" He says, smiling sweetly at her. He really hoped that this didn't turn poisonous whilst still in his hand.

Bianchi looks at the sweet suspiciously. "I gave one to Hayato too, so I thought I should give you one." Tsunayoshi continues, guessing why she was suspicious. He wasn't declaring his undying love for her or anything.

"Oh that's so sweet Tsunayoshi." Bianchi praises, soothed by the mention of her brother. "I'll have to make sure to visit him whilst I'm there." Tsunayoshi mentally felt sorry for Hayato and made a mental note to check on the boy once he got home. Hopefully Lancia would be okay looking after Hayato- he had never seen a Bianchi-stricken Hayato before.

"C-could you sign this for me?" Tsunayoshi stutters, holding out the piece of paper- her technique only worked on food right? "It's for Reborn-" She immediately signed the paper.

"Bye now Tsunayoshi, I have to go see Reborn before he escapes!" Bianchi says quickly, seeing her business was done here. The sooner she was away from him the better. She tolerated him because Reborn and Hayato liked him… and because he was cute… but he was still a rival for her affections!

Tsunayoshi watches her practically float down the street, surrounded in a rosy pink glittery cloud as she thought of the rather dashing Reborn. Tsunayoshi wondered whether it was something only girls could do, he'd seen Luce, Elena, Sakura, Kyoko, Haru and Mai float like that, often at cute clothing or puppies or something.

He is pulled out of his thoughts as something lightly hits the back of his head. Reaching a hand up, he grabs the object, finding that it's a paper aeroplane. He looks around, trying to find who threw it.

"Oh, sorry brat." Grudgingly says Shamal, sitting on the wall surrounding the Gokudera household. "I was trying to make a new plane to keep Hayato on his toes with." He gestures to the paper planes scattered around the crossroads.

"Hmm, you had better clean those up before the GateKeepers see them." Tsunayoshi points out.

"Or I'd get a punishment from the lovely Kazuko Hibari. A woman like steels she is." Shamal sniggers lecherously. The innocent Tsunayoshi doesn't get the joke, and tilts his head, unsure of why getting a punishment from the GateKeepers of all people is something to laugh at.

"Are you alright?" Tsunayoshi asks, worried about the shade of red Shamal has turned.

Shamal blinks and shakes his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Anyway, what are you doing here without anyone standing over you?"

Tsunayoshi jumps at the reminder, frantically looking around to see if he could spot any of the Arcobaleno, or feel their eyes on him. Luckily he couldn't. "I'm here to give this to you." Tsunayoshi says, placing the sweet in the paper plane before launching it back towards Shamal. The assassin catches it, taking the sweet out.

"I usually don't accept chocolate from men-"

"Luce helped me make it."

"-But on this one occasion, I will."

"Oh, can you sign this for me? To let Luce know that you liked her chocolate?" That wasn't true, but mentioning Luce got Shamal to do most things. Indeed, Shamal jumped off of the wall, took the pen from him and signed in a cursive flourish, leaving a heart and a few kisses afterwards. "Thank you. I'll tell Hayato that you're planning something good for him. I bet he'll be excited."

Shamal frowned, the boy had just totally killed the mood. "Hn, whatever brat. Now if that's all?" He pushes Tsunayoshi away, making flicking gestures with his hands. Tsunayoshi laughs at Shamal's sudden change in attitude before walking off down the street.

"N-Natsu, are you r-ready for this house?" Tsunayoshi asks nervously.

The Cervello.

He loved the Cervello, he really did, but they got rather excited around him. It was almost like he was a collectable doll made from gold or something.

He didn't even have time to knock on the gate before it was flung open and he was dragged inside.

Meet the Cervello outside of their house and you would never have met anyone as stone faced, rule centred and unattached as them. But get them inside the house and they changed totally, as if they all became 10 year old girls.

"Rose-sama! Looked who came to visit us!" One lady shouts, holding the boy up in the air.

"Tsunayoshi-sama!" The women all shout, giggling and laughing whilst they pet him and pinch his adorable cheeks.

"Ladies, ladies, calm down. You're scaring the poor boy." Rose admonishes walking through the crowd. She eventually gets to Tsunayoshi, who had been placed down on a table. "Good Afternoon Tsunayoshi." She greets regally, her tiara glinting in the light.

"Good Afternoon Rose, Cervello." He replies, nodding towards the mob.

"Good Afternoon Tsunayoshi." The Cervello chorus.

"To what do we own the pleasure of your visit? Is there a game you would like us to referee for you?" Rose enquires.

Tsunayoshi shakes his head before adjusting his grip on Natsu and his bag. "No, I came to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day." He rummages around in his bag to find the huge store of truffles he had made for them. "I made these for you all."

As one, almost like a military movement (Lal would have been proud) the Cervello bow. "Thank you Tsunayoshi-sama." They all say.

Rose rises from her bow gently taking the bag from the child's fingers. "We are greatly honoured that you went through the trouble of making such gifts for us."

Tsunayoshi smiles- the Cervello have to suppress a squeal over its cuteness- before saying, "Don't worry, I was happy to make them for you. Could you sign this for me please?" He hands the piece of paper over. Rose nods and signs the paper on behalf of the Cervello- there isn't room for each of them to sign it.

"_Hey Flower Power, you in here somewhere? Nono told me he wants to see you for something."_

Tsunayoshi immediately places a hand over his lips. "Shh, I'm not supposed to be here. Don't tell Lal. I need to leave without her seeing me."

The Cervello nod. "The game is set. Ladies." Rose whispers back. The closest Cervello nod in understanding. Rose moves carefully to the other side of the room, ducking down so her tiara isn't noticed.

"I am over here, Lal-sama. What a pleasure it is to see you again." Lal saw a lot of the Cervello, in part due to her relation to Vongola and her trustworthiness in Nono's eyes, but also because she used them as referees in a lot of games she held to train the COMSUBIN with.

Meanwhile, Tsunayoshi was stripped of his coat, had a few pink additions to his black clothing and given a black mask to finish off his disguise. He and Natsu were then shuffled through the mob of ladies and out of a side door before being escorted to the front gate. After checking that Colonnello wasn't waiting outside, Tsunayoshi leaves, bidding the helpful Cervello goodbye.

The next house, that of the Nuevo, went without a hitch. Frankie and his men were pleased to see the chocolate, used to the day being a commercial holiday back in America. Tsunayoshi leaves with one signed paper and orders to tell Skull that they wanted to book another private gig for him… paid handsomely of course.

The next house he visits is that of the Giegue, with Anastasia opening the gate for him.

"How nice to see you little cute one." She smiles.

Tsunayoshi smiles back before taking a running leap, diving head first for the floor, where he proceeds to slide down the ice floor. "Heeheehee, nice to see you too Anastasia." He shouts whilst laughing.

"Oh the little cute one is here," comments Viktor, poking his head out of one of the rooms.

Tsunayoshi keeps on giggling before throwing a sweet at Viktor on his way past. He then throws one at Anastasia too. Both Russians catch their sweets with ease. They watch as the boy expertly spins on his back before kicking off the wall and sliding back towards them. He had lots of time to practice that manoeuvre with.

Tsunayoshi catches a glimpse of movement in the ice before throwing the sweet in a different direction. It goes through one of the side doors. A moment later, Nikola walks in, stopping Tsunayoshi's skid with a foot.

"What are these for little cute one? You don't usually hand us chocolates."

Tsunayoshi pouts when the foot stops him sliding on the ice floor. "They are for Valentine's Day of course. Oh, can you sign this please, one of you?" He waves the paper in the air.

"Hmm, you've been a busy boy haven't you?" Viktor muses, reading the names on the list. "And that's a whole lot of chocolate."

Tsunayoshi grins, pleased. "Luce and I spent ages making them all." He nods as Viktor hands the list back, tucking it safely back into the bag. "Natsu helped too!"

"_Hey kora, Lal's gone for the day. Any of you losers want a dodgeball game against me?"_

"Um, do you mind keeping this a secret? I'm trying not to let the Arcobaleno find me." Tsunayoshi whispers meekly.

The Russians nod, before Anastasia kicks Nikola's foot off of Tsunayoshi and gives the boy a light tap. "Off we go then."

The pair of them skate down the corridors of the Giegue house, keeping out of sight of Colonnello. Tsunayoshi has to place Natsu over his face to stop him giggling with glee as he flies down the icy corridors. But the fun ends too quickly in Tsunayoshi's opinion (they needed a bigger house!) when they make it outside.

"We'll keep him distracted." She promises with a wink. Tsunayoshi pouts, so she adds in, "Not too badly hurt."

Tsunayoshi perks back up, getting off the floor. "Okay then. Bye bye~"

He waves to her, keeping an eye on the front door in case Colonnello came out.

He sighs as he exits, glad that his bag was lighter than when he first started.

"Nearly there Natsu. Nearly there."

* * *

><p><strong>And I'm stopping here, since every special deserves to be done in two parts. And this chapter is already long enough. <strong>

**Don't worry, I will get around to the School arc, I just need longer to plan it since I've got far too much University work to do at the moment. **

**But anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the first part of Mafia Row's Birthday Special. **

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 03 March 2013. **


	85. Omake H Happy Families Part 2

Chapter 85

Omake H Happy Families Part 2

**Sorry if this seems a little rushed, but I was busy and didn't have the time to plan the rest of this properly before hand. I'm a little rushed for time at the moment so there might be more mistakes in this than usual, I'll edit it properly tomorrow. **

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi skipped the Carcassa totally, they had been really really mean to Skull and didn't deserve some chocolate. Once he was stronger, then, maybe, he could face them again. He still remembered the feeling of the syringe against his skin, and his horror when Skull got hit with it whilst protecting him. He shivers and instead sneaks to the gate of a much safer house.<p>

The Vendicare.

Tsunayoshi was pretty sure that Bermuda was back at home, discussing some troublesome Families with Reborn, so he shouldn't be at the Vendicare. He ducks from one flower patch to another, taking occasional refuge behind the skeleton like trees. Eventually he gets to the front door, which opens without him knocking like usual. The place is pitch black as he enters, but he takes measured steps inside anyway, knowing they weren't going to hurt him. Although since he was still afraid of the dark, he clutched Natsu tighter than usual.

'_Three, two one,' _Tsunayoshi mentally counts once he's stopped moving_. "And cue left."_

A candelabrum on his right lights up, just in time for him to catch movement, like he suspected, to his left. He turned and threw one of his sweets in that direction, watching it disappear into the shadows.

'_Right, 2 O'clock, 12 O'clock, above… aaand lights.' _

His predictions is perfect as usual, and when the lights come fully on- or as on as they ever became in the dim Vendicare- Tsunayoshi found himself surrounded by the Vindice, each one with a sweet in their bandaged hands. Although Tsunayoshi couldn't really take credit, they used the same routine on him each time, he'd just memorised it. At least they were being nice today and didn't throw their chains at him.

"What are these for Tsunayoshi?" Jager asks, bringing the sweet up to his eye level.

"They are for Valentine's Day!" Tsunayoshi explains, beaming that decaying smile at them- they really were not going to survive much longer if he showed them that sugar sweet smile each time.

There is a moment's pause, enough time for the child to say he was joking, but instead there is silence. So the Vindice burst out laughing. _They_ of all people had gotten Valentine's Chocolates? What was the world coming to? They couldn't even eat anything anymore! Although Tsunayoshi might have not realised it since Bermuda could eat food.

Tsunayoshi pouts, getting the feeling he was being laughed at. That wasn't very nice! "Heeeyy, Jager, stop laughing at meee," He whines. " Could you at least sign this for me?" Tsunayoshi asks, waving the piece of paper and the pen. Jager nods, still laughing, and sends one of his chains to do the job. Tsunayoshi stares at the signature, noting how pretty it looked, like it belonged to a king or something.

"_What on earth is so funny? I didn't think you'd all be having fun without me." _

"Ah! Don't let Bermuda see me, we're playing a game." Tsunayoshi hisses, watching the door where Bermuda's voice seemed to come from.

"Hehe, alright kid," Agrees Small Gia. The Vindice liked to play jokes on their boss and each other, after all, there wasn't a lot else to do otherwise.

Tsunayoshi nods his thanks before running out of the front door, Natsu and bag in hand.

Bermuda walks in, looking slightly bewildered since his men were laughing, yet no one was covered in streamers and hanging upside down from the ceiling. "Where'd you get the candy from?" Bermuda asks, since each of them had a piece but couldn't eat the stuff.

"Cause it's Valentine's day Boss, and there was this boy scout at the door selling 'em. So we thought we'd buy 'em for you sir." There are sniggers from around the room before the sweets get thrown towards Bermuda simultaneously. Bermuda catches them, and looks at the pile in his hand, wondering whether they are about to blow up or something.

Then he remembers that there are no boy scouts on Mafia Row...

Meanwhile, Tsunayoshi had made it safely outside and was now walking past the Estraneo House. Or what was left of it. As a reminder of the importance of treating Family correctly, the burnt husk of the House was still standing. The underground was totally destroyed by the grenades Colonnello had been systematically using, all their research incinerated.

Leaving that house behind him, he knocks on the door to the next house instead, one belonging to the Chinese Triads. In fact this visit was rather short and went something like this:

_"Happy Valentine's Day I-Pin!"_

_"Hmm? Why did I-Pin run off?"_

_"Do not worry child,"_

_"She is merely embarrassed."_

_BOOM!_

_"Oh, okay. Here's some for you too, Leilei Brothers. Oh and can you sign this for me?"_

He didn't see I-Pin again before he left.

The next house he needed to visit was the Tomaso one. As he ducks inside, he finds that there are even more bullets than usual whizzing across the lawn. Wisely, Tsunayoshi follows a wall instead of walking straight through the middle of the battlefield, eventually finding Naito in the back garden with his subordinates.

"Well if it isn't Tsunayoshi-chan! Watcha doing here?" Naito asks when he notices the other boy.

"I came to say Happy Valentine's Day." Tsunayoshi explains, reaching into his bag to find the chocolates he needed. He walks around, handing them out to Pantera, Lunga and Mangusta. When he gets to the butler, Mangusta, he asks the older man to sign the piece of paper for him.

"Oh yeah! Valentine's Day. But you're doing it all wrong Tsunayoshi-chan. You gotta do it like my Family out front! Bullets equal love don't cha know?" Naito nods decisively, whilst the other three don't say anything. Tsunayoshi nods too, remembering saying something like that to Dino about Reborn. Naito walks over and grabs one of the discarded guns, pointing it straight at Tsunayoshi.

"So HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TSUNAYOSHI-CHAN!" He shouts before pressing the trigger.

Tsunayoshi leaps and screams before running out of that house as quickly as possible. Luckily, he, Natsu and the bag make it out unharmed.

"How dost thee fare Tsunayoshi-dono? One dost seem rather out of breath."

Tsunayoshi looks up whilst catching his breath, only to see Basil and Oregano walking towards him, bags of shopping in their hands.

"I'm fine Basil, thanks." Tsunayoshi says, smiling reassuringly. "I wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine's day." He rummages around in his bag before drawing out three of the chocolate truffles. "The other one is for Turmeric." He explains, handing two to Oregano before getting her to sign the sheet of paper.

"Thou should not have, Tsunayoshi-dono." Basil says, blushing slightly.

"Thank you Tsunayoshi." Oregano says, in a tone directed at Basil.

"Ah, t-thank you Tsunayoshi-dono." Basil says, bowing at the waist.

"_Geez, what's taking them so long, all I did was send them out for some more sake for the party…"_

Oregano and Basil look at each other, both remembering the orders the Arcobaleno had given them. And since it was orders that didn't go against their Boss's wishes, they didn't mind doing them. Plus, they were sensible and were scared of what the Arcobaleno would do to them should Iemitsu lay a hand on Tsunayoshi. Oregano quickly pushes Basil forwards, giving him the carrier bag with the all-important sake in it.

"Give that to Boss and don't let him out here." She orders. Basil nods and runs for the gate. He remembered getting that very scary glare from Mammon last year and he didn't want a repeat.

In the meantime Oregano pushes Tsunayoshi in the other direction, placing her hands on his shoulders as she walks him in the opposite direction. "So where next Tsunayoshi?" She asks, having noticed all the names on the list.

Tsunayoshi points to the house next door, and she nods, making sure that he's safely inside before going back to the CEDEF.

Again this visit is a short one, since he only used to visit this house because Lancia and Fuuta lived here. So instead he drops off a candy to Lancia's Boss and Right Hand Man before getting them to sign the paper and politely leaving.

"Hey Natsu, wish me luck for this one." Tsunayoshi whispers to the plushie. The next two houses, if not handled carefully, could be his downfall.

He gingerly walks into the Sasagawa Gym, looking around for any extreme boxers. Luckily he doesn't see one. Just as he's walking over to the receptionist lady to get her to sign the piece of paper for him, a melodic voice rings out behind him.

"Ah, Tsunayoshi, what are you doing here?" Tsunayoshi smiles as Kyoko walks across the room towards him.

"I came to say Happy Valentine's Day." Tsunayoshi explained, holding out a chocolate for her.

She smiles brightly at him, taking the chocolate and holding it to her chest. "Thank you Tsunayoshi."

"Aww, isn't that adorable darling? Do you remember when we used to be like that?" Tsunayoshi and Kyoko both look up to see Kyoko's parents leaning against a door, watching them. Mai looks rather pleased, and Tsunayoshi can tell from the expression on her face that she's holding in another aww or squeal- Luce got that face sometimes when he tried on a new outfit.

"I've got some for you too." Tsunayoshi shouts across before handing them to Kyoko. That only makes Mai gush even more, but Tsunayoshi is more than used to it. He looks suspiciously around the room, and lets out a sigh of relief, it seems he could escape here after all.

"EXTREMEM RUN!"

Or maybe not.

Ryohei comes running into the room and skids to a halt in the middle before noticing Tsunayoshi. Grinning, he runs across to Tsunayoshi. "Have you come to train with me to the EXTREME?" Ryohei shouts, reaching a hand out to grab Tsunayoshi's wrist and haul him away.

But Tsunayoshi had a plan. One Reborn had taught him. "Yeah I have. So let's start right now okay? How about this? I bet you can't catch it." Fire lit up in Ryohei's eyes at the challenge and he started bouncing up and down, ready. Tsunayoshi takes the final sweet for this house, pulls his arm back and launches the sweet across the large room. "EXTREME THROW!"

The sweet lands across the room, Ryohei chasing after it, and somehow manages to bounce so high that it started to bounce up the stairs. Ryohei goes to follow it, before shouting at the sweet to extremely hold still as it rolls down the stairs and between his feet, before continuing on its journey across the floor, and through the door to the stairs leading down to the swimming pool. Needless to say, a few seconds later, there was a splash followed by a shout of "I win to the EXTREME."

When the Sasagawas look back at the child who had thrown the sweet, it's to find him gone, having gotten the receptionist to sign the paper after all before hightailing it out of there. He didn't want to be stuck there all day training.

Smiling at his close escape, Tsunayoshi enters the Miura Tailors, before remembering that this too is a dangerous place. Within seconds, he's been grabbed and placed on a pedestal.

"Hmm, been to see the Cervello I see. Pink and black is alright if you have their figures and look like a child, but they really should move on. Maybe add in some silver, that's the colour of this season you know."

"But mother, doesn't pink look so cute on Tsunayoshi, desu~."

"Well of course it does darling, any colour looks good on Tsunayoshi, he's got the right complexion for it."

"Hahi! You're right mother. That's amazing desu~. Haru wishes she had Tsunayoshi's complexion toooooo~."

Tsunayoshi slams his face into Natsu's fur since there wasn't a wall or table nearby. Now he was going to be stuck here until one of the Arcobaleno found him and he failed! When Haru and Sakura got started, they could talk all day, and Tsunayoshi really didn't want to be used as a live mannequin at the moment. He'd had that treatment only last Tuesday.

"Um… umm. I just… I came to say…" He tried to interrupt, but with the speed these two were talking at, it was nearly impossible. "Haru I want to wish you a happy valentine's day!" He finally shouts over them.

Haru immediately blushes, hiding her face in her hands. "Oh my, Haru didn't think Tsunayoshi liked Haru like that. Oh Haru doesn't know what to say."

"We have to plan the wedding right now!" Sakura says firmly, running across the room to find the wedding album. "These Mafioso can do under-aged weddings right? Oh Haru you'd look so wonderful in a wedding dress!"

Wedding… wedding… oh that was that thing that Verde explained to him when he went to the future a while ago. Lal and Colonnello had gotten married in the future. So it meant wanting to live together forever and promising to love each other forever right?

"Umm, I've also got one for you too Sakura." Tsunayoshi interrupts, holding out one of the chocolates towards her.

Sakura gasps, a hand to her mouth. "Tsunayoshi! I am a married woman! And I can't believe you'd two-time Haru! And with her mother no less. Shame on you."

Tsunayoshi didn't really get what was going on here, so showed Sakura the third sweet, "And one for Haru's dad too." He smiles. He was the only calm one of the family… unless you got him and Viper together to talk money, then he was nearly as bad as these two.

Sakura dramatically gasps once again. "Tsunayoshi, I didn't think you'd be like that, and at such a young age too. What are the Arcobaleno teaching you?"

Yeah… he was missing something here.

"Sakura, it's nearly time for your three o'clock appointment to arrive." Haru's dad says, walking in with a diary in his hands. "Oh, good afternoon Tsunayoshi. So you're the reason there's so much noise in here."

Tsunayoshi nods sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry. I only came in here to give them some home-made Valentine's chocolate but then they started going all weird. Here's one for you too." Tsunayoshi explains, walking over to give the man his truffle. "Could you sign this for me please?" The man nods, quickly signing the paper with a pen from his shirt pocket. "So who's Sakura's next appointment with?" Tsunayoshi asks in curiosity.

"Hmm, didn't you know, it's Skull." Sakura supplies, having calmed down. "He wants a new outfit to fit the theme of his next stage show so I said I'd make it for him."

"S-Skull's coming here?" Tsunayoshi asks, wide eyed. "Like right now?" Sakura nods.

"_Badada! I'm gonna get a new outfit, I'm gonna get a new outfit~."_

"Heeii! Quick, you've got to hide me from him! He can't know I've been here. We're playing hide and seek!" He says quickly, which was kind of half true Tsunayoshi supposed.

"Right desu~! Haru's on it!" She proclaims before dragging Tsunayoshi into the back of the shop. Before the boy knows it, Haru's gotten rid of the pink frills the Cervello had added, placed a jumper and another pair of trousers over the ones he already had on, and placed a mask on his face. When he looked into the mirror, he realised that he looked like a mouse. With the mask on and the hood pulled up, no one would be able to recognise him.

When they walk back into the main shop, Tsunayoshi sees that Skull and Sakura are busy taking Skull's new measurements.

"Wow Skull, it looks like you've added some muscle between now and the last time I measured you." Sakura comments, looking at the tape measure. Since Skull wore skin tight leather, lots of things needed to be measured, not just the length of his arms, waist and legs. Skull laughs loudly and gloats about how 'of course he had put on muscle', and Sakura just laughed along politely.

Haru and Tsunayoshi walk through the shop, mainly unnoticed.

"Make sure to come again desu~" Haru sings as if seeing a normal customer off. Tsunayoshi hands her a piece of chocolate before running off down Mafia Row Central.

There was one last place on Mafia Row Central he needed to visit, and that was the restaurants. He suspected that Tsuyoshi and Takeshi would be in TakeSushi like usual. The restaurants were quite busy, filled with couples celebrating the special day. Even TakeSushi was busy. So Tsunayoshi snuck in the back entrance, so no one would see him.

Sitting outside in the sun he found Takeshi, folding napkins into pretty shapes.

"Excuse me Mr Mouse, but what are you doing in my back yard?" Yamamoto asks when he looks up and spots the 'intruder'.

Tsunayoshi blinks before moving the mask slightly so Takeshi could see his face. "It's me silly." He giggles.

"Hey, Good Afternoon Tsunayoshi." Yamamoto says cheerfully, putting down the napkin he was folding.

"Happy Valentine's Day Takeshi!" Tsunayoshi replies, holding out the chocolate.

Takeshi smiles happily, taking the chocolate. "Oh thank you Tsunayoshi. But aren't you like, supposed to give this to a girl that you love or something? All the boys here are with girls."

Tsunayoshi tilts his head to the side. "Hmm, but aren't you supposed to give it to someone you love lots and lots? There are lots of people I like lots and lots, I've given one to nearly everyone on the island. And I love you lots and lots too."

Yamamoto laughs, whilst putting a hand to the back of his neck. "Haha, I love you lots and lots too. Everything's fine then!"

Tsuyoshi, who had been watching the exchange ever since a masked mouse had appeared in his back yard (although there was only one person that was ever going to be), smiled at the innocence of youth. The other chefs who had overheard smiled at it too, finding it cute.

"Hey Tsunayoshi, do I get one too?" Tsuyoshi asks, his chefs laughing behind him.

Tsunayoshi smiles as he runs over, careful not to get in the way of the working chefs. "Of course!" He holds out the chocolate truffle for Tsuyoshi to take. "Can you sign this too please?" Tsuyoshi nods and signs the paper quickly, amazed that Tsunayoshi had been telling the truth- he really had given one to nearly everyone on the island, even the GateKeepers and the Vindice.

As Tsuyoshi hands the paper back, he comments, "You might want to hurry up Tsunayoshi before the chocolate melts in your bag, it's pretty warm out today." Tsunayoshi gasps before putting the bag on his shoulder and reaffirming his hold on Natsu.

"Okay, I will. See you later!" He shouts as he runs off, the mask firmly back in place. He runs back down Mafia Row Central, crawling under the window to the Tailors so that Skull doesn't see him, before turning onto Mafia Row and back towards home.

He knocks on the first door he comes to, which is opened by a red headed adult.

"Hey Cozarto, are the others in?" Tsunayoshi asks, looking up at the Shimon founder.

"Ah Tsunayoshi, of course, of course, come in." He steps back, letting the little mouse walk in before shutting the gate. "Hey children, we've got a guest for you all!"

The Shimon children poke their heads out of various windows, doors or around walls, spotting the mouse.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Tsunayoshi shouts so they can all hear him. "I brought you all some chocolate."

Maybe that was a bad thing to say. For suddenly the earth is shaking as the family run towards him, all fighting each other to get first dibs on the chocolate. Adelheid gets there first, having beaten the others back and respectfully takes a piece of chocolate and thanks Tsunayoshi. Then she turns to the others, fans out ready to liquidate the others respectfully for their misbehaviour. Julie gets there next, having crawled under Adel's skirt whilst she had her legs braced to attack someone with.

From there it all devolved into a dog pile. Of course the usual suspects end up at the bottom. When Enma and Tsunayoshi can finally stand up, there isn't any chocolate left in Tsunayoshi's hands. Enma looks saddened by this, looking forwards to some chocolate from Tsunayoshi. The other child notices this, and holds Natsu up.

"Me and Natsu knew this would happen, so Natsu saved you a piece." He smiles. Bringing Natsu up to Enma's hands, he makes the lion toy open its mouth, dropping an undamaged candy. Enma smiles shyly back, patting Natsu gently before giving Tsunayoshi a careful hug.

"Thank you Tsunayoshi."

"No problem Enma!" Tsunayoshi replies, before running over to Cozarto. "I've got one for you too!" He announces, holding another chocolate truffle out. "And can you sign this please?"

Cozarto thanks Tsunayoshi, ruffling his hair, before popping the chocolate into his mouth and eating it whilst signing the paper.

"Hey, do you think he's got more chocolate in there?" Koyo asks, eyeing the bag that had been dropped in the commotion earlier.

The Shimon watch amazed as Tsunayoshi runs towards the bag with a speed and grace that they hadn't seen since last year when Julie stole Natsu, grabs it and runs towards the gate. "No you can't have it!" He shouts defiantly.

"That means he does have some!" Koyo shouts, a fist in the air. "I will get it, in the end!" He starts to chase after Tsunayoshi, but doesn't get very far because Cozarto grabs him by the collar and holds him in the air.

"No so fast." He says, smiling sharply.

Tsunayoshi can hear Koyo complaining and protesting even when he makes it out of the gate. He sighs, glad he still had the bag and Natsu. He'd hate for them to take Natsu away from him again, although Julie hadn't tried again since last time- and for good reason, that Verde/Viper/Reborn glare had been damn scary!

Tsunayoshi did a quick check around to see if he could spot any of the Arcobaleno- gladly not- before sneaking his way to the next house on the Row. The gate opens before he has a chance to knock on it.

When Giotto opened the gate, he was not expecting to see a kneeling mouse with fluffy brown hair at the gate. Although if the kneeling hadn't given it away (in this day and age, very few people knelt to him anymore, most just bowed since he commanded respect as the Vongola Founder, but he wasn't their Boss) then the mouse costume would have given their identity away. Of course his Hyper Intuition had told him too.

"Tsunayoshi, how nice to see you," He smiles. Over their many encounters this past year and a bit, Giotto had learnt that it was futile telling the boy to stop kneeling infront of him. Apparently the boy didn't know why he did it, except that 'a feeling' told him to and that he couldn't stop even if he wanted. Plus he was sure he'd heard Reborn mention that the young boy liked knights.

"You too Giotto," Tsunayoshi smiles back, finally standing once again.

"So what brings you here?" Giotto asks, letting the boy enter their garden since he was looking around warily, like he was looking for someone, or being watched.

"I'm here to give you Valentine's chocolate," Tsunayoshi explains with a smile. Giotto grinned back, happy at the prospect of sweets.

"What good timing, we were just having afternoon tea." Giotto comments, picking the mouse up and carrying him to the flower garden at the back. There a long table was set up, with enough room for him and his Guardians, along with Elena. Tea pots, china (not the best china) and an assortment of cakes and sandwiches were laid out over the pristine white table cloth.

Giotto sits down at the head of the table as always, placing Tsunayoshi on his lap.

Seeing that all eyes were on him, he removes his mask before shouting "Happy Valentine's Day!" The he reaches into his bag and brings out some of the chocolates he had made earlier. "And I brought chocolate."

"Chocolate? I had better taste test it, can't have Giotto being poisoned." Lampo announces grabbing the child- lion, bag and all- and placing him in his lap instead, where there would be a better supply of chocolate. He takes one piece, immediately placing it in his mouth.

"Maa maa, you've already had enough chocolate today, or did you forget that you ate a whole chocolate cake just now?" advises Asari, plucking the child out of Lampo's tight grip. Tsunayoshi smiles, politely handing Asari his bit of chocolate. "We should really do something to thank you Tsunayoshi. How about a music recital?"

G. growls, snatching Tsunayoshi from the flute player and settling the boy on his lap instead. "Che, why would we want to listen to a fu-"

"Hey, no naughty words!" Tsunayoshi admonishes, shouting over G.'s use of bad language, before giving G a good hard pinch that was sure to hurt for a while. G growls once more, this time more menacing, and is about to take a swipe at Tsunayoshi for being a brat, but the boy is once again playing musical chairs and has moved on.

"G.! Swearing infront of children is sinful! And what would have happened if you had hurt him?" Knuckle asks, checking the child over for damage. There was nothing major, just a few grass stains from his earlier encounter with the Shimon. Tsunayoshi smiles and hands Knuckle his piece of chocolate before sticking his tongue out at G.

"Nufufufufu~ Then he would be facing the wrath of my wonderful Elena of course." Daemon laughs, removing the child from the grip of the priest and handing him over to Elena.

"Aaah, you came all this way to see me on Valentine's, how adorable." Elena coos, patting his cheek in a motherly way. "And you even dressed up for me~." Tsunayoshi giggles, since that hadn't actually been the plan, but let her think so anyway. He gives her two bits of chocolate, one for her and one for Daemon.

"Yup, Happy Valentine's Day Elena!" He smiles. Elena hugs him tightly against her chest, nearly suffocating Tsunayoshi before someone saved him.

"If you kill a child, even unintentionally, I will arrest you." Alaude informs, as serious as always.

"Nufufufu~ I'd like to see you try to arrest her." Daemon says pleasantly, his scythe materialising out of the mist.

The battle aura is almost tangible between the two, and Tsunayoshi decides he's not safe where he is at the moment- ie Alaude's lap.

And that's how Tsunayoshi ends up full circle, back safely on Giotto's lap. The pair wince when the sounds of battles start, physically with Alaude and Daemon, verbally with most of the rest.

"And here's one for you," Tsunayoshi smiles, handing the truffle over to Giotto. Primo smiles, before frowning as the table shakes.

"Thank you Tsunayoshi, bit I think you had better leave now. I need to sort them out." Giotto sighs, before clearing his throat ready to 'talk' them into submission. Hmm, what threat to use this time?

Tsunayoshi giggles before jumping off of Giotto's lap and running across the garden and out of the gate.

Before he knocks on the gate of the next house, he takes off the mouse mask and clothing, stuffing them in the now considerably lighter bag. Now he was back in his just plain black sneaky spy outfit.

"Mou~ you looked adorable in the outfit, cutie~" Complains Lussuria, who had been leaning against the gate waiting for Tsunayoshi. "You could have tried to make Bossu blush!" Both laughed, knowing how futile that was.

They traverse the lawn full of traps easily, and enter into the main house. Tsunayoshi follows Lussuria down the corridors and eventually they come to the main dining room. As usual Squalo is shouting whilst Xanxus is throwing things. Lussuria ducks under a flying wine glass and enters the room. Tsunayoshi catches the wine glass and throws it back at Xanxus. The Varia Boss catches the glass and places it back on the table, unbroken, which was Tsunayoshi's intention.

"So the brat's here." Xanxus rumbles, putting his feet onto the table.

"Ushishshi~ What does the Prince's Kitty want today?" Belphegor asks whilst aimlessly carving doodles into the table.

"I came to say Happy Valentine's day!" The boy announces, much to the disgust of the Varia.

"Vroiii! Why the hell did you come here to say that for? That's pathetic! We don't eat chocolate!" Squalo roars, standing up from his seat.

"Hey, we do!" Pouts Lussuria, Belphegor nodding beside him.

"But I didn't get you guys chocolate." Tsunayoshi replies, grinning secretively. "I got you something special that I picked just for each of you!" He climbs onto the table since that was the easiest way to do this, and goes to Xanxus first.

Xanxus blinks when something white, black and silver is thrown at him, automatically catching it. He stares at the object, not really sure what to think, whilst the brat hands out the rest.

"Why did you give me a lion keychain?" Xanxus asks slowly, waiting to hear the hidden surprise. Did it explode? Was there a pen knife inside?

Tsunayoshi pouts, crossing his arms. "It's not a lion, but a Liger. Squalo got a shark and Bel got a mink and Lussuria got a peacock and Levi got a stingray." He explains, pointing to the key chains in turn.

"Hey, little bro, you said you picked them out especially, so why did you pick these ones?" The only one that made sense was Squalo and a shark because of his name and attacks.

That's when Tsunayoshi lowers his eyelids, raises an eyebrow and smirks, a lot like Reborn did, but without the fedora to pull down. "Hehe, to know that, you've got to wear them in public, where I and everyone can see them, once." There are grunts and pouts from the others respectively, but Tsunayoshi won't yield.

"Well, I'll be going now, bye bye~" He waves, jumping off the table and collecting Natsu before exiting the building. Since they hadn't gotten chocolate they didn't need to sign the paper. Not that he needed them to sign the paper anyway apparently.

The trip to the main Vongola house is pretty uneventful, with Nono and his Guardians accepting their chocolate with grandparent-like smiles and thanks.

So Tsunayoshi returned home.

* * *

><p>When Reborn enters the kitchen for an espresso later, he's surprised to find the brat back so soon. Although he has to raise an eyebrow at the way Tsunayoshi was stroking Natsu.<p>

"So you finally arrived Mr Bond." Tsunayoshi says, faking a deep voice.

"You need to seriously stop watching movies with Luce and Skull, they're a bad influence on you." Reborn chides, carrying on with his original objective.

Tsunayoshi ignores that comment. "I managed to give Chocolate to every Boss on the island, apart from the Carcassa, and I even have those signatures you wanted to prove it. See I told you I could do it!"

Yesterday, when Tsunayoshi and Luce had been making the truffles, Tsunayoshi had announced his intention to give Valentine's Chocolate to everyone on Mafia Row. Reborn had scoffed at this, highly doubting that Mafioso would accept Valentines, especially from a child. This morning he had overheard Reborn telling the others to keep an eye on him today and to bring him back home if they found him.

Tsunayoshi had insisted to Reborn that he could do it, and all by himself too. Reborn lowered his fedora and had smirked, saying that if Tsunayoshi could get proof that he hadn't just eaten them all himself, but get them to sign for the chocolate, then he'd admit defeat. That had spurred Tsunayoshi on and he had accepted the challenge. However, if any of the Arcobaleno spotted Tsunayoshi and brought him home, then he lost.

Reborn walks over, espresso in one hand as he holds the other out. Tsunayoshi hands the piece of paper over, a smug smile on his face. He had finally beaten Reborn for once!

"Good job brat." Reborn say before sipping the coffee. "I'll admit defeat." Tsunayoshi jumped off the chair whooping in joy.

Reborn, still a smirk on his face, took the paper and walked into the study where Viper was working away. He places the piece of paper down infront of her.

"Those signatures you wanted." He smirks, lowering his fedora.

Viper looks at it, then up at him. "You mean Tsunayoshi got for me?" She said sceptically.

Reborn shrugs, "Call it outsourcing, or a good use of the tools you have. Any way you look at it, I got you those signatures, so pay up."

Viper grumbles, but still gives in, making a note to thank Tsunayoshi in some way later. But right now she was more focused on those signatures. Now she had blackmail and forging material. Signatures went on a lot of important documents after all… like bank transfers and cheques…

Reborn left the room, taking another sip of the espresso, leaving a very happy money orientated psychic in his wake.

* * *

><p><strong>Phantom Hitman 1412<strong>

**First Published 07 March 2013**


	86. One Day It's Time To

Chapter 86

One Day It's Time To

**And here it is the School Arc! It took forever to plan this, I hope that I've gotten everyone's ideas in there. So far it's around 28 chapters long this arc, but if I get more plot bunnies, or need to split chapters up, then it's going to get longer. **

**So I hope you all enjoy it!**

**And Credits: Part of what Mukuro says is based on a Guest reviewer's suggestion.**

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi looks at all of the Arcobaleno, repeats in his head what they just said and tries to process it. However he doesn't like what he comes up with. Chocolate eyes get larger and shinier as they fill with tears before Tsunayoshi lets out a huge wail and runs out of the room.<p>

The Arcobaleno look at each other, not having expected that reaction, wondering what they said wrong.

"Someone has actually told Tsunayoshi the meaning of that word, right?" Lal asks, eyebrow raised.

The group turn to look at Verde who was considered an expert on this. "I actually don't know if he does or not. I personally have not explained it." He explains, flicking through his observation book to check.

None of the Arcobaleno can remember a time when Tsunayoshi himself used this particular word. So maybe he didn't know what it was.

"I'll get him," Bermuda sighs, standing up from the table.

"I'll come too." Viper adds, standing too.

Bermuda nods and holds his hand out like any good nobleman to a lady. Viper rolls her eyes and grabs his hand anyway. In two seconds they are through the portal and gone from sight. They find Tsunayoshi at the gate to their house, pulling feebly at the handle, crying so much that he didn't have the energy or focus to actually open the heavy gate. When he hears their footsteps he tries once more, but still the gate doesn't open. So he runs for it instead.

Bermuda doesn't let him get very far, his chains zipping past and wrapping around the little boy, picking him up off the ground. Tsunayoshi wriggles and squirms trying to get out of the hold, even screaming at some points.

"You know, this might very well be Tsunayoshi's first tantrum." Bermuda comments as the child is held in mid-air.

"Hmm," Viper agrees, thinking of all the times as a baby Tsunayoshi had wailed and screamed, but never really like this.

Bringing the boy closer, Bermuda holds the crying child still in his arms, waiting for him to calm down. Tsunayoshi eventually does, especially now that he's caught with no chance of escape, and relaxes in Bermuda's hold.

"Tsunayoshi, tell me what's wrong. Why are you crying so?" Bermuda asks, rocking Tsunayoshi gently to help him calm down further.

Tsunayoshi says… _something_, but it comes out more as sad moans, angry gurgles and harsh baby talk than anything due to him almost choking on his tears. They can't make a word out.

Viper steps forwards, looking down at Tsunayoshi in concern. Fantasma crawls out of her robe and onto her arm, looking at the child ruining its sleep by making so much noise, as well as making his mistress worry. He flicks his tongue at Tsunayoshi, but the boy turns and bats the tongue away. Viper frowns slightly at this, it was unusual for Tsunayoshi to do anything to the animals like that. She reaches a hand out, gently placing a fingertip on Tsunayoshi's forehead, doing something she hadn't done in years.

She closes her eyes, and after a few seconds, she mumbles, "We're not sending you away because we hate you. We still love you Tsunayoshi. We're not bored of you, or find you annoying, we're not giving you away to someone else either."

She opens her eyes and looks down once more at the child. "That's not why you go to school Tsunayoshi."

Bermuda laughs, "You've never heard of school before? You'll still be living with us, you'll still eat breakfast with us and dinner and you can still sleep in the same bed as us. You won't be leaving us at all."

"School is somewhere you go to learn things, to become smart like Verde." Viper continues, knowing that mentioning the Arcobaleno was a good persuasion technique.

Tsunayoshi stops crying, just hiccupping every now and again, and perks up when being like Verde is mentioned.

"Nearly everyone goes to school Tsunayoshi. In most counties it's the law that you have to go. You go there and learn lots of things and it helps you to be good enough to get a job." Bermuda explains.

"Lots of people already to go school, I bet you didn't know that the Varia do, and Dino and Bianchi." Tsunayoshi's eyes widen, even those people went? And he knew for a fact that they still lived at home.

"Oh Tsunayoshi, that's what you were crying about?" Luce coos sweetly, having finally found them all, a few of the others trailing behind her. "You're not even gone all that long, just six hours or so. And you won't be alone either, most children will be going to school, like Enma and Byakuran, Shoichi, Spanner, Takeshi, Haru, Kyoko and Ryohei. You'll be with them all day and have a lot of fun with them."

"Yeah! School is really fun, kora!" Colonnello shouts, smiling at Tsunayoshi broadly in hope to cheer him up. "It's a little bit like the COMSUBIN, that's a military school of sorts. Lal is a teacher and I'm her student, but instead of being outside, you're sat down at a desk all day and don't get bombs thrown at you."

"S-So, you're really not trying to get rid of me?" Tsunayoshi asks carefully, holding tightly to Bermuda's cloak in case they tried to pull him off. **He would not leave!**

"Of course not, Tsunayoshi," Assures Fon.

"I'll pick you up on my motorcycle every day, how does that sound?" Skull offers.

Tsunayoshi smiles and laughs weakly. "Okay then… I'll go, but only because everyone is coming with me."

"Um, about that Tsunayoshi," Starts Luce, looking into the air instead of him. "Mukuro, Ken, Chrome and Chikusa haven't been told yet. Chrome is too young to go, but the other three are old enough."

Tsunayoshi gapes at her, wondering why they hadn't mentioned this sooner. "But-but-but! They HAVE to come, I promised them that I wouldn't leave them alone! And they'd get to make lots of new friends there, right?" Luce nods. "I'll do it, I'll make them come with me. Even if that means tying them up and dragging them!" He announces enthusiastically. Luce frowns slightly, wondering which of her fellow Arcobaleno he got that from. At least guns or sleeping gas hadn't been involved…(she ignored the conversation going on between Bermuda, Colonnello and Tsunayoshi about the many ways of taking someone somewhere they don't want to be. She'd have to make sure that the armoury door was locked.)

Before she knows it, Tsunayoshi's gotten down from Bermuda and run off… with the chains still wrapped around his waist, tugging on them and pulling Bermuda with him.

"Come on Bermuda! Hurry up!" Tsunayoshi whines. Bermuda would unwrap the chains but Tsunayoshi has such a tight hold on them that he couldn't. The other Arcobaleno kindly wait until Bermuda is out of sight before laughing at the Vindice Boss.

Tsunayoshi bursts into The Shed, still pulling Bermuda with him, before running into the living room where the occupants usually were.

"Oya oya, my dear Tsunayoshi, it appears that you have been crying." Mukuro comments, an eyebrow elegantly raised.

"Why did you cry?" Chrome asks, crawling to the end of the sofa to get a better look at Tsunayoshi.

"Ha! I bet it was Bermuda, byon. That's why you brought him here in chains! I'll sort him out for ya Tsunayoshi!" Ken claims loudly, stalking towards Bermuda with a gleam in his eyes.

"Of course it wouldn't be Bermuda you fur brained idiot!" Hayato shouts, bashing Ken on the head. "Tell me who it was Tsunayoshi-sama and I'll make them regret it!" In a flash there are several dynamites in Hayato's hands, all sparking, just like Hayato's anger.

"How many times do I have to tell you? No dynamites in the house." Lancia says sternly, reaching forwards at the same time Tsunayoshi does to put them out.

Tsunayoshi smiles as he hands the dynamite back to Hayato, "It's nothing to worry about Hayato, I just got the wrong idea about what a school was, that's all."

"Oh, I can tell you that Tsunayoshi-sama!" Hayato beams before pulling out his miniature whiteboard, putting on his glasses, tying up his hair and getting out a red marker. "School is a building, that looks like this-" He starts drawing on the whiteboard.

Tsunayoshi giggles, before walking over to where Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa were, letting Hayato talk to himself in the background.

"You're coming with me, you know." Tsunayoshi says, smiling sweetly.

"Oya? That's the first I've heard of this." Mukuro comments, looking down at Tsunayoshi from his seat on the sofa.

"Yeah, why do we need to go to school, byon? The Estraneo already taught us what we need to know to be hitmen." Ken adds, before he jumps back on the sofa and curls up on a pillow next to Mukuro.

"How troublesome," Chikusa sighs, looking up from where he had been flicking his yoyo. This school place meant going somewhere different every day and getting up early, and it was such a pain.

"But you learn lots of cool things there!" Tsunayoshi protests, looking at Lancia for back up.

"But Lancia and Verde already teach us, so why would we need to go somewhere else? All the children there will merely be stupid and a waste of my time," Mukuro retorts, a smile on his face. The outside world was just miserable and pathetic anyway, there was no need to leave here, not just yet anyway.

And almost as if Tsunayoshi had read Mukuro's mind, he next says, "But you meet lots of new people there and make friends with them and do lots of stuff together," Or at least you were supposed to, according to the others.

Mukuro thought for a moment, he had actually overheard Lancia and Hayato talking about this school, since Bianchi had come over with some papers for them to fill out. It seemed to him that a lot of Mafiosi's children went to this school, it was one of many such mafia schools, but this one was special since Boss's children went. Befriending the children of Bosses would be very fundamental; get to know them, manipulate them, control them and eventually, get them to destroy the Mafia. Kufufufu it was perfect!

"Fine then, dear Tsunayoshi, we shall go." Mukuro says, a wicked gleam in his eyes, a smirk on his face.

"Mukuro…?" Tsunayoshi says slowly, recognising that face. He had learn that this particular face was often followed by a rather gruesome illusion or by him doing something naughty, often to Hayato.

"But I don't wanna go," Ken whines.

"You are coming." Mukuro orders, he certainly wasn't going by himself, not to a place like that. "You shall find it fun, I promise, kufufufu. It's not going to be _boring._"

Ken and Chikusa seem to catch Mukuro's drift, the promise of fun and not being boring was alluring, it did get dreary here at times when Tsunayoshi wasn't around.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

A rather annoyed aura fills the room, stopping Hayato from his speech and the boys from their planning. Hayato gulps, turning around slowly for this aura was never a good sign.

Just like the boys, Chrome had been brought up in the Estraneo, which meant at times she could have quite a temper, and she knew how to use her power too. Over the past few months she had learnt how to talk properly, so she couldn't be ignored now either. Estraneo morals meant getting anything you wanted by force, to not be ignored, and to smack anyone who ignored or annoyed you.

"I'm going too, aren't I?" She asks, a stern set to her lips and face, mist circling around her hand in preparation for summoning her trident.

Forgetting the Estraneo, the women of the Arcobaleno were quite strong willed too, and certainly not to be ignored on threat of The Bag, a slap barrage or an empty bank account. Chrome certainly had some role models.

"C-Chrome," Hayato starts, putting his hands up, placating. "The thing is…" she looks sharply at him, those words were never good. "You can't." Hayato quickly says, getting it over and done with before running to hide behind the whiteboard.

Chrome looks pleadingly at Lancia, eyes wide, "I-I can't?" She asks, confused.

"For this particular school you can't until you're six. You could go to a different school, but then you wouldn't be able to go with them next year." Lancia explains. It wasn't exactly true, she could transfer in, but this was the easier explanation. She wasn't really ready to enter school yet anyway, there were still some issues left by the Estraneo to sort out.

She looks down and sniffs, before grabbing her owl plushie and hugging it tightly, willing herself not to cry. "But I want to go with my brothers too," She mumbles sadly. The scene practically broke the hearts of the other four boys.

Tsunayoshi walks over and jumps onto the sofa next to her before giving her a one armed hug. "Don't worry Chrome, we won't be gone for long and next year you can come with us! I'll come and tell you about my day every day, how does that sound?" He offers, voice bright and cheery.

"Yeah, the actual classes are boring anyway," Scoffs Hayato, curling a lip in distain.

"They are?" Ken whines again, this place was sounding worse and worse. Chikusa grabs the pillow next to him and smothers Ken's face with it.

"You could get extra lessons from Mammon now that she's not looking after me all day," Tsunayoshi whispers to her secretly, "You can become stronger and then protect them when you go next year." Chrome looks at him, then at her brothers, before nodding gently. "Good girl," He smiles before patting her hair.

"You're coming too, right Hayato?" Tsunayoshi asks, turning to look at the silveret.

"Of course Tsunayoshi-sama! I will be by your side the whole time!" Hayato shouts, bouncing over and standing before Tsunayoshi with puppy ears and tail.

"No leaving?" Tsunayoshi asks, eyebrow raised sternly. They hadn't let Hayato anywhere near the docks since the time they had found him trying to swim back to Italy.

"I would never Tsunayoshi-sama. I have no reason to leave anymore, otherwise I wouldn't be with you." He replies earnestly, respect shining in his eyes.

"Good," Tsunayoshi says happily, smiling cutely. "Then I don't have to ask Luce for her puppy collar."

Hayato looks shocked. "Collar?" he mumbles in confusion. What did a collar have to do with him?

The others in the room laugh, knowing about Hayato's puppy-like habits around Tsunayoshi, unlike the boy himself.

"Tsunayoshi, are you finished here? Luce says she need you for clothes fittings," Bermuda explains, poking his head back into the room.

"Yeah, I'm done. See you later guys," Tsunayoshi says before waving at the others, getting down from the sofa and walking to Bermuda's side and out of the front door.

Bermuda can't resist leaning back so they can see him and say, "Don't worry, Luce will come and do your's soon too. No running now, I can catch you too easily."

Hayato, Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa stiffen, all pretending to not let that faze them. They had been subjected to Luce in a clothing frenzy before now, not long after getting out of the Estraneo. She was scary when she was like that, tugging them every which way. How Tsunayoshi willingly let the crazy woman do that to him and like it they'd never know. They actually considered trying to run from Bermuda.

"Good luck," Chrome whispers quietly, slipping off the sofa and exiting the room. Lancia too, tries to hide his laughter, before going upstairs with Chrome, giving the boys the freedom to make an attempt at escape if they so wished- it wasn't like they were going to get far.

"I-if Tsunayoshi-sama can, then I can too." Hayato announces shakily, pretending to be strong. He quickly runs upstairs too, taking off as many dynamites as possible; He'd learnt that Luce's pulling and tugging when changing clothes hurt more with the dynamites on since they got caught in the fabric. At least this was a fitting for a uniform and not some sort of silly cosplay. He can hear the panic downstairs.

"Quick Chikusa the crazy woman is coming, we need to hide!"

"Under the sofa maybe? Or do we have a cellar?"

"If we hide in the bathroom and lock the door we'd be fine right?"

"Which do you think she'd be more scared of, a lion or a rhino?"

Hayato sniggers to himself when he hears Ken's yelp from being smacked, no doubt by Mukuro.

He had survived Bianchi's cooking. Nothing could be worse than that…

Right?

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><p><strong>I look forwards to seeing you all next chapter!<strong>

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 10 March 2013**


	87. Leave Your World Behind

Chapter 87

Leave Your World Behind

**I've realised that I haven't thanked you all for all the wonderful birthday messages you gave to Mafia Row. So thank you very much! *bows* They really meant a lot to me. **

**To my Guest Reviewer: I'm glad that you're so happy over my using your suggestion. You shouldn't be so surprised, I did say I'd try to include as many people's ideas as possible, and if I could fit it in then why not. **

**I want to dedicate this chapter to a friend of mine, Preppy-Stealthy-Ninja, since it's a very special day today!**

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><p>And all too soon, the fated day arrived.<p>

Tsunayoshi was sat at the breakfast table, eating the pancakes Luce had made for this 'special occasion', listening to all the others talk.

"I hope you have a good day at school today Tsunayoshi. I'm sure it will be an experience you shall enjoy," smiles Fon, looking down at the boy on his lap.

"He should be more focused on his studies than having fun," Mutters Verde, cutting up a piece of pancake to feed to Keiman who was sat at his feet.

"That's not true, kora!" Colonnello protests, leaning forwards in his seat, "Having fun is really important and helps you learn, I'm sure you'd know that. Lal and I have fun all the time and I still learn lots."

"Hm, that's highly debateable, especially if you're calling your pathetic attempt at flirting 'fun'." Reborn smirks, looking relaxed sat back in his seat.

"If you dare to demonstrate the correct flirting technique on me, I swear I shall fill you both full of lead." Lal growls, stabbing her knife into the table to emphasise her point. She was not being subjected to yet another one of their flirting arguments. It was not fun to be in the middle of, especially when Colonnello took much joy in making her turn as many shades of red as possible. And she swore that Reborn did it just to annoy the hell out of her. Without even a pause, she turns to Tsunayoshi instead, "What you should be more concerned with brat, is making sure that no one walks all over you. Mafia schools can be ruthless, so make sure to show them you're not to be messed with. It would be pathetic if a child of the Arcobaleno was stepped on."

"That's right Tsunayoshi!" cries Skull, standing up and fully leaning over the table to get close to Tsunayoshi's face. "There are these really scary people called bullies, you need to make sure to stay away from them. Although if anyone is mean to you, just send them to me; the great Skull-sama shall teach them a lesson from Hell! Bwahahaha." Eyebrows around the table are raised at Skull's sudden change of personality without the aid of his helmet, although they suppose it was normal whenever Tsunayoshi was concerned.

"Thank you Skul-" Tsunayoshi starts.

"But you've got to be brave around them Tsunayoshi!" Skull continues, talking over Tsunayoshi. "If you show that you're scared of them even once then they'll keep bothering you forever, asking for your lunch money and beating you up. It's horrible. And once they start they keep on coming back and if you protest then they just beat you harder and it's a never ending circle that you can't escape from!"

"It sounds like you have personal experience in this area Skull," Bermuda says, pretending to be serious, smothering his laugh. Everyone knew Skull was talking about Reborn and Colonnello.

"Skull, you really should stop talking, you least of all should be the one giving advice on bullying." Reborn orders, kicking Skull from under the table.

"Yeah, Tsunayoshi should have a better role model than you, kora." Colonnello adds, smacking Skull across the back of the head.

"You can't talk! Both of you are bullies you know!" Skull protests.

"We never denied that," Reborn replies, smirking once again.

"See Tsunayoshi!" Skull exclaims, pointing a hand towards the pair. "It never ends!"

Tsunayoshi purses his lips in an angry pout, "Hey, stop being mean to Skull already!"

Luce watches the argument with a small smile on her lips, it was one she was sure she'd be hearing variations of for years to come. However, she was more concerned with how Tsunayoshi had grabbed Fon's robe rather tightly earlier on. It didn't look like he was going to let go either.

"Tsunayoshi, don't let that worry you," She soothes, rubbing his arm gently. "You should be more focused on all the new people you're going to meet. Plus you'll get to see your friends more often. Isn't that a good thing?"

Tsunayoshi nods, letting go of Fon's robes slightly. All the talking of bullies had scared him slightly- he had the strangest feeling that it was going to happen to him… and that it hurt a lot. "Yeah, it will be nice to see them lots more than usual," Tsunayoshi agrees. Although it did come at a price- not seeing the Arcobaleno as often.

Reborn stands up from the table, sipping the last of his morning espresso and placing the cup on the table. "See you later brat, I've got a job to do," he announces before leaving the kitchen. Tsunayoshi waves him goodbye, watching him leave.

"I suppose I had best leave too or else these rotas will never get done," Sighs Bermuda, standing up too. He walks over to where Tsunayoshi is before ruffling his hair. "Have a good day Tsunayoshi, I know you'll be fine. It'll be over before you know it." Tsunayoshi nods, smiling back at Bermuda.

"Hey, bufflebrain, I hope you packed your supplies last night or else you're going to be late," Lal says, looking at the clock.

Colonnello stands up from his seat, grinning, "Of course I did Lal, stop worrying." He puts his plate in the sink before turning and winking at Tsunayoshi, "That's a good habit to get into Tsunayoshi, that way you're not stressed," He informs in a stage whisper. Tsunayoshi smiles back. His smile widens when Colonnello pats him on the head before leaving.

Lal gives Tsunayoshi a side glance, "Seriously brat, don't get into trouble. I have enough stress with that one," She sighs as she points her thumb in the direction Colonnello had just left in.

"I won't Lal," Tsunayoshi promises, pulling out the angel expression. Lal gives a nod, but her expression shows that she doesn't believe Tsunayoshi, he was a trouble magnet. But the brat had to learn one day she supposed. She leaves the room, heading towards the armoury in search of a special set of bullets she might need for today's trip. Oh and some rope for Colonnello.

Looking upwards, Tsunayoshi notices an exasperated yet amused look pass between Luce and Fon. He wondered what that could be for? "Luce?" He asks, tilting his head.

Luce laughs slightly, a caring smile on her face, "It's nothing Tsunayoshi. I just wondered when I raised them to be like this. Oh well, I suppose this is the best I can expect from them."

Tsunayoshi continues to look at her in confusion, not understanding what she was talking about.

"No matter dear," Luce says standing before picking him up off of Fon. "Well Verde, any advice before he goes?" She asks, looking over at him.

Verde absently pushes Keiman back down- the greedy caiman was after more pancake- shaking his head in answer to Luce's question. "No there is not. I find experiential learning is one of the best forms, especially with someone like Tsunayoshi." He gives Keiman another light smack for trying to get onto the chair again, "Tsunayoshi, I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye bye Verde, bye bye Fon." Tsunayoshi sings, waving to Verde as Luce walks out of the room.

"Remain calm Tsunayoshi, and everything will be fine," are Fon's parting words.

Luce carries him upstairs before helping him get dressed into the school's uniform. That done, they go back downstairs, grabbing Tsunayoshi's bag and the lunchbox Luce had made earlier.

Just before they are about to leave the house, the pair are shocked by a sudden voice they hadn't heard coming.

"Oh, I found you just in time," Viper says, standing in the doorway, looking like she'd just gotten out of bed two seconds ago (which she had).

"Viper!" Tsunayoshi shouts, running back over to hug her, "What are you doing up at this time of the morning?"

"You'd have to pay me to get that information." She says. "But I will give you one piece of information for free," She says, voice low and serious. She kneels down, giving Tsunayoshi a goodbye hug as she whispers, "Don't be afraid to be different, just be you. Promise me."

Tsunayoshi looks at the psychic woman who hid her eyes, who hid her body, only showing a small amount of purple hair and unusual tattoos, and wondered what her time at school was like.

"I promise." He agrees, sensing that this was important to her- if giving it away for free wasn't a good enough indicator already.

"Come on Tsunayoshi, we still need to collect the others." Luce says, holding her hand out for him to take.

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><p>In The Shed, school preparations had been going differently. A long time was spent just looking at the fiendish school uniforms that were looking far too innocent. The fittings had been an experience from hell, just like they suspected. All four males now had a fear of needles and pins after seeing the way Luce had used them so proficiently. The three Estraneo assassins had the sneaking suspicion that Luce could kill with those needles if she really wanted to- they had best be on good behaviour from now on.<p>

"Maybe I should burn it?" Hayato asks the others. He didn't mind becoming an arsonist.

"If you do that then Luce will only fit you for more," Lancia calls from the kitchen, overhearing the boys' conversation. "Plus Tsunayoshi will be wearing the exact same uniform as you."

"Well… if Tsunayoshi-sama is…" Hayato agrees reluctantly. But really, why did there have to be a uniform? It reminded him of the clothes he'd have to wear to recitals. Plus _adults_ wore uniforms, he hated them.

"Ooii, it's too hot in this byon!" Ken whines, pulling at the collar.

Chikusa didn't say anything, knowing it was a waste of breath, and instead kept looking in the mirror, trying to decide which beanie hat looked the best.

Mukuro comes out of the bathroom, pulling and plucking at the horrendous uniform- didn't Mafiosi have better taste?

Hayato snorts, before holding his stomach as he laughs. When he stops, he gives a wolfish grin to Mukuro. "You know, the green colour of this uniform is growing on me. If it makes you look more like a pineapple than usual, I can bear with it."

"Oya, would you like to repeat that?" Mukuro asks, offended, slowly advancing on Hayato with his trident drawn.

"Che, bring it plant head." Hayato growls, hand reaching for his belt and dynamites.

"Hahaha, Mukuro! You should dress in green more often!" Ken howls.

And Chikusa… knows to stay away from the topic altogether. "Chrome, which hat?"

"Hmm, that one," Chrome says, pointing to the one in his left hand, knowing too that it was best to leave the boys to it. Until it got so loud that it have her a headache, then she interfered.

But before things can get too bad (and most importantly, before any damage can occur to the uniforms) the angel arrives to save the day.

"Good morning!" Tsunayoshi shouts as he opens the door.

In a flash, he's run across the hallway and gives Chrome a cuddle. "I'll see you later Chrome. I hope you have a good day too."

He turns to go and grab the others, but finds resistance. He looks back, and Chrome is still holding onto his uniform.

"Chrome, let go."

Chrome looks down, still holding on. She really wanted to go too. She hadn't been left alone without her brothers before now.

"Chrome, we'll be back before you know it. You're got to help Lancia look after Fuuta, right." Tsunayoshi encourages, smiling at her gently.

"…Okay." She says quietly. "Come back soon." One day, she'd go with them, she'd make sure of it.

Tsunayoshi nods before running around collecting the others- having seen Luce looking at her watch.

"Come on come on, that hat will do," He rushes, grabbing the hat Chrome had happened to pick and stuffing it on Chikusa's head before grabbing his wrist and pulling him with him. Ken is next to be grabbed, Tsunayoshi sorting his collar out first. Then he grabs Mukuro, pushing him forwards from behind, towards the doorway.

"Hayato, go go," Tsunayoshi pleads. Hayato of course follows Tsunayoshi's wish, greeting Luce politely when he sees her outside (He never knew, she might still have a sewing needle on her! This uniform was bad enough without her making some sort of addition to it.)

"All ready?" She asks sweetly, grabbing Ken by the collar when he tries to make a run for it. Despite the question, the boys knew they didn't have a choice.

"Yes Luce."

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><p>"Um, Tsunayoshi, darling, you know that you can't take Natsu in with you, right?" Luce reminds, sitting in the back of the car with the boys, the car parked just outside of the school.<p>

Tsunayoshi looks down; he had really wanted to bring Natsu with him. He always did when going some place new. "Can you… can you look after him for me today then?" Tsunayoshi asks, begrudgingly handing him over. "I don't want him getting lonely." Luce smiles and nods, taking Natsu from Tsunayoshi's hand.

"Don't worry, you won't be alone, I know it." Luce says, smiling even more.

"Tsunayoshi-chan, hurry up!" Ken shouts, climbing back into the car and carrying Tsunayoshi out of it. Hayato quickly jumps in and grabs Tsunayoshi's bag before it can be left in the car.

Before Tsunayoshi can try and get back in the car and return home, or before Luce can grab and cuddle her baby and never let him go again, Chikusa quickly shuts the door and the driver wisely drives off.

"We should go and find the class list, Tsunayoshi-sama," Hayato suggests, knowing he needed a distraction from leaving the Arcobaleno.

"Kufufufu, there is no need of that, puppy," Mukuro says, walking back towards them- Tsunayoshi assumed Mukuro had left whilst he was still in the car. "I have checked already, you four are all in Year 1 class A, where as I am in Year 2 class A."

"_Could all students please report to the courtyard. The Dean will soon be making his address."_

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><p><strong>Hmm, I'm not happy with this. This chapter really didn't want to be written, as you can tell from how short it is. I know that not a lot happens in this chapter, but this is more about setting up for the next few chapters, so there's lots of foreshadowing for you all to find instead.<strong>

**Anyway, see you next time.**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 14 March 2013**


	88. And Step Into A New Environment

Chapter 88

And Step Into A New Environment

**I've changed a few ages to make things more interesting, but in general most people are the right age. I think it's only Spanner and Shoichi's ages I've changed, making them a year younger. And since Fran is never given an actual age as far as I know, I'm making him the same age as Tsunayoshi, we can say in the future he looks young for his age.**

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><p>"<em>Could all students please report to the courtyard. The Dean will soon be making his address."<em>

The children look at one another, before Tsunayoshi smiles, turning towards where all of the other students were heading. "Well, I suppose we go this way then?"

Mukuro shrugs his shoulders, but turns and walks in that direction anyway. Hayato stays at Tsunayoshi's side, walking with him and pointing out things of interest around the school. Chikusa, however, turns in the other direction, grabbing the back of Ken's collar as he tries to leave.

"Let me go byon! I don't wanna goooo!" Ken howls, scrambling against the hold, trying to run towards the gates. That scary Luce wasn't around, so now he could sneak off. Who needed to go to school anyway? He was sure it was going to be boring, he'd rather nap on the grass in the park across the road instead. Like any wild animal, Ken turns around as best as he can in Chikusa's hold and attempts to bite Chikusa's hand. Chikusa sighs and retaliates by smacking Ken in the nose with one of his yoyos. The beastchild lets out a high pitched yelp, both hands going over his nose to protect it.

Their actions have drawn the attention of other children, all looking their way and whispering in groups. At first they had thought a fight was going to happen, but then they had listened to the rather strange noises the blond one had made. A howl, growling and a yelp like a kicked puppy. Strange.

Ken, still growling low in his throat, wonders why he even agreed to come in the first place. He was already feeling constricted and penned in, a feeling he didn't like one bit. The walls were so high and the gate reminded him of his cell's back metal bars.

"Ken, Chikusa, hurry up, you're going to be late!" Tsunayoshi shouts, running over to them. "Let's go, let's go!" Tsunayoshi smiles. The children around wonder if they are going to have to save the innocent looking boy that ran up to the feral beast.

Ken grumbles, turning away from the smile. "Okay, I'll go. But only so Luce won't come after me with her bag."

They meet back up with Hayato- who gives Ken a smack on the head for 'being a bother to Tsunayoshi-sama'- and he directs them to the line where they needed to be. Mukuro was nowhere in sight, most likely off with the second years who were lining up somewhere else.

As they are walking past, a small hand reaches out and grabs the hem of Tsunayoshi's jumper. Feeling the tug, Tsunayoshi stops and turns towards the person. His eyes light up and he (gently) leaps on the person.

"Enma!" He shouts happily. "So you came too!"

Enma nods, carefully returning the hug, glad that most students were too involved in their own conversations to be watching them. "I'm glad to have found you Tsunayoshi," Enma says quietly. "A-are these friends of yours?" He asks gingerly, looking at the three rather scary people at Tsunayoshi's back. One, who he was pretty sure was called Hayato, he remembered the silveret from the time when Tsunayoshi had been kidnapped, was glaring at him, a blond one was licking his lips as if Enma was something to be eaten, and the one with a hat on looked rather emotionless.

Tsunayoshi leans backwards, one hand still on Enma's shoulder. "Yeah! They all live with me. Well, not in my house but in The Shed." Enma blinks at that, it was a strange place to live, but who was he to question the Arcobaleno? (As long as Tsunayoshi was never sent there since it sounded suspiciously like a cover up for a dungeon.) "That's Ken and Chikusa, they and Hayato will be in the same class as us."

"**Students! It is a pleasure to see you all here today." **

"Oh, it looks like the Dean's speech is starting," Tsunayoshi whispers. He pulls Enma with him, the others following as they sneak to the back of their class line.

"**My name is Professor Borin, and I am the Dean of this school."**

Borin, Borin… Why did that sound so familiar? Tsunayoshi thinks. The voice sounded familiar too.

"**All of you are here for an important reason. To become part of the future generation."**

Oooh~ That sounded so familiar. But where had he heard it before now? A mission with one of the others maybe? A… a tutor! That's it, a tutor had had this voice.

Tsunayoshi stands on his tip toes, trying to look over the heads of the taller children around him. After a few seconds he stops, realising that the others were just too tall. Instead, he takes a peek to the side, looking down to the other end and seeing…

… _**Reborn**_?

What was Reborn doing here? Although it was no wonder the voice had sounded familiar. Tsunayoshi remembered a few months back when he and Reborn had snuck into the house of a Mafia Boss, pretending to be the child's tutor and the tutor's son. They had snuck in, gotten some information, stolen a few black market books from the library and left again.

"Ne, ne, Hayato, do you see Reborn up there?" Tsunayoshi whispers, pointing towards the Dean. A Dean who just happened to have curly sideburns and liked to wear a hat.

"Hmm, no I haven't seen Reborn since last week Tsunayoshi-sama." Hayato replies, taking a good look at their new Dean. Hayato didn't like the look of him though, he looked _too_ nice and friendly. This school took in Mafioso's children, there was no way a civilian was the head of it. Plus Hayato didn't trust adults anyway, they were always lying.

Tsunayoshi pouts, taking another look at the Dean. He was sure it was Reborn! So instead he asks Ken, Chikusa and Enma. All three say it's not Reborn either. That makes Tsunayoshi want to gape at them; It couldn't be more obvious that the Dean was Reborn! Although Reborn had said he had to go to a job this morning… this surely wasn't the job he was talking about, was it?

Tsunayoshi put the thought out of his mind, instead smiling to himself, pleased that Reborn had gone to such lengths to keep an eye on him. Especially in such a public way, usually Reborn was hiding in the trees nearby instead. It was amazing the effort Reborn went to to show he cared.

"**That is all. Teachers, please escort your children out of here."**

Tsunayoshi jumped, realising that he had missed most of the speech. He follows the other people infront of him, eventually entering a classroom. The students are milling around, chatting or deciding where to sit.

"Yo, Tsunayoshi!"

A shout makes Tsunayoshi look up, and he sees Takeshi waving at him from the back of the room. With him were Haru and Kyoko. All three (four if you included Ryohei) were already good friends from all the time they spent together. Dodging people and desks, Tsunayoshi makes his way over to the others. Ken and Chikusa, not up to being introduced to every single person Tsunayoshi knew- which they believed was _a lot-_ went to the back corner and claimed the seats there. Chikusa plays with his yoyo with one hand, the other on the desk propping his head up as he observed his new classmates. Meanwhile Ken places his feet on the table, chair leant back, and chewed a piece of bubble gum.

"Hey Takeshi, Haru, Kyoko. I didn't know you guys were coming too." They weren't Mafioso's children after all. (It was later explained that letting their children come to this prestigious school was a perk of accepting the Mafia Row job.)

"Well pops just told me I was going to school and took us here this morning. Did you know they have a baseball club here?" Takeshi explains, before pointing out of the window to the baseball pitch outside.

"Che! Is baseball all you can think about?" Hayato growls, offended that this child had brushed off Tsunayoshi-sama's kindness like that and hadn't even greeted him properly.

"Hmm? But I like baseball. Tsunayoshi and I play it sometimes." Takeshi replies, smiling at Hayato despite the other's anger.

"Hey, why are you so grumpy?" Haru asks, hands on hips as she leans forwards. Hayato growls under his breath. This woman got on his nerves every time he had seen her- which thankfully wasn't often, only when the whole island got together.

Kyoko smiles at the arguing trio before smiling and greeting Tsunayoshi politely as usual. Tsunayoshi replies back before leaving the trio to argue whatever it was out. He had a feeling that arguments like these were common, or were going to become common at least. In fact he could practically hear the arguments in his head now…

Shaking off the feeling, he looks around the room to see who else he recognised. He spots the mechanics at the front of the room, so Tsunayoshi goes over to them, Enma trailing behind. Just as he is about to call out to the pair (who are already bored and tinkering away at something), he gets a harsh slap on the back.

"What's up, Tsunayoshi-chan?" Asks Naito, grinning broadly. Somehow Naito had already defaced his uniform, safety pins adorning the collar and rips at the elbows and knees. Behind the Tomaso heir is Lunga, looking blank as he nods his head in time to the music playing in his headphones. Pantera is there too, somehow having found a lace parasol in the same shade as the green uniform. It's hard to tell what she is doing since her eyes are hidden under her bangs as usual.

"Ah, good morning Naito," Tsunayoshi smiles, pretending that the pat on the back hadn't hurt. He smiles at Enma, who had jumped at the sudden arrival, assuring the timid child that he was fine. "You're in this class too? That's cool."

Naito puts his hands behind his head, still grinning stupidly. "Yeah, as cool as an ice cube. I'll catch'a later, I've got my eye on this sweet chair." Tsunayoshi watches the Tomaso children go, picking chairs at the back centre. Once sat down, Naito fiddles with one of his piercings whilst humming loudly (and unbearably out of tune) some sort of rock song to himself.

"They were… err… different," Enma comments, looking at the weird trio too.

"Hmm, well the Tomaso are different in general." Tsunayoshi explains before continuing on his journey to see the mechanics.

"Good morning Shoichi, Spanner. Where are the others?" Tsunayoshi asks, not seeing any of the rest of the Gesso Family.

"Not here." Spanner says, concentrating on the screwdriver instead of Tsunayoshi.

"A-ah, what Spanner means is that Byakuran and Daisy are in the year above us and the rest are in the big kid's school. Bluebell is still at home, although she threw a fit when we told her we'd be leaving." Shoichi shudders, remembering the tantrum she had thrown. Seeing that look makes Tsunayoshi thankful that Chrome hadn't gotten too mad at them.

"So what are you working on?" Tsunayoshi asks, peering down at the small box.

In answer, Spanner lifts the box up so Tsunayoshi and Enma can see it. He then pushes a button and a monster resembling a pacman ghost springs out of the box and into the faces of the two boys.

"Heeii!"

"Yaaah!"

Both jump and scream at the scare. Tsunayoshi, being the clumsy little boy he is- his life wasn't currently in danger- catches his foot on the desk and falls over, accidentally taking Enma with him. They land loudly in a pile on the floor.

The class had gone quiet at the scream, and some of the other students come closer to check on them. What they see is two adorable boys clinging to each other in fright, eyes wide and teary from the pain of the fall.

"_Hey, isn't he cute? His hair is so fluffy like a plushie!"_

"_The other one is cute too, especially with than bandage on his cheek."_

"_But you're not seeing the bigger picture. Look at them both, I just want to hug them and check they're okay."_

The pair are oblivious to the whisperings going on, instead trying to fend off Hayato who had immediately run over at the noise.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hayato shouts, turning to the pair of mechanics, eyes flashing in anger.

"Testing our latest creation." Spanner replies, unfazed by Hayato's anger- now an angry Byakuran, that was something to be scared of.

Hayato pauses in his tirade, blinking before looking down at the device. "You made this?" He asks, picking it up to examine it. Tsunayoshi was half waiting for the glasses to appear on Hayato's face, he seemed so engrossed.

"Alright alright, settle down brats," grumbles the teacher, walking back into the room. "Hey you two, get off the floor." He sneers, lip raised in disgust. Tsunayoshi and Enma quickly scramble back up. "Pick a seat, any will do." He waves his hand in an uncaring manner.

Tsunayoshi looks around, deciding to sit in the middle row next to the window. He stares out of it, looking at the sports ground below and the city beyond that.

"Che, back off wench, I'm sitting here!"

"Maa maa, it's just a seat, although I really want… hey when did Enma get there?"

"Haru likes this seat desu~ And that means that Kyoko should sit here."

"Okay Haru, that's fine with me."

"… Ladies first I suppose. Haha, that means this seat is mine then."

"That means that we should be able to sit here then, right Claire?"

"Yes Miria, I do believe that Rose-sama would be happy with this position."

Tsunayoshi blinks at the commotion going on around him, wondering what all the fuss was about. Looking around, he finds Hayato to his right, Enma sat directly behind and Takeshi with the seat diagonally behind to the right. Ken and Chikusa were sat behind Enma and Takeshi. In front of him was Haru, with Kyoko to Haru's right, Spanner and Shoichi infront of them, right at the front of the class. To the right of Takeshi and Hayato were two Cervello girls, still with their black masks on their faces.

"Hey, shut it!" The teacher says, voiced raised. "Now that you're all settled we can move on. I am Nezu-sensei and I shall be your homeroom teacher."

"_Now this is just hypothetically speaking… Let's just say there is a sole student that scores in the 20 range and painfully lowers the class average… According to me, who's come through an elite course, that kind of person will just be baggage and a burden on the education-conscious society."_

"_Boy are you mean Nezu-sensei, telling them to dig up a time capsule that isn't buried."_

"_Why are the test scored of an elite man like you in the time capsule of our ordinary middle school?!"_

Tsuna blinks, looking again at the man who was to be their teacher this year. Was he really the same man? Were they… were they going to be okay with a teacher like him?

"Now listen up brats, I'm about to start the literature lesson."

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><p><strong>The next few chapters will be more of setting up as such, but then we move onto the more interesting stuff. So I hope you'll stick with it. <strong>

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 17 March 2013**


	89. With New People

Chapter 89

With New People

**Sorry for disappearing for a week, I had two assignments and a presentation to do for this week. It took me the whole weekend to prepare for them all. **

**There will be a few OC characters- the first of which is introduced here- but they don't play a major part of the story. In this instance, she is merely there to represent the fanclub Tsunayoshi is starting to gain from the last chapter.**

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><p><em>"Now listen up brats, I'm about to start the literature lesson."<em>

Tsunayoshi perked up at the mention of literature, he actually knew what such a big word meant. Luce was very keen on books and reading, she spent a lot of her time reading, like just before bed. Many nights had been spent looking at picture books or her reading him a bed time story. Colonnello, Bermuda and Skull would often read to him too, usually dramatizing the story with actions and funny voices. Fon would read to him, in a more normal manner, as would Verde and even Lal (one mention of a princess and the book was thrown across the room). Viper wasn't very good at reading stories, she never made it very interesting, and he hadn't managed to make Reborn read him a book yet. Ever since he was five Luce had been teaching him to read letters and words. By now, at the big age of 5-and-a-half (you can't forget the half- big difference) he could read and write words and sentences in Italian- He'd had some very good teachers… if you forget about the bombs and the guns and the electric shocks. He was still working on his Japanese, but it was good enough for him to come here and learn as if he was any normal 5 year old Japanese student, at this school in a town called Namimori.

The school they were at was an unusual one. It took in 'special' children. Now the context of the word 'special' changed greatly depending on whether you were mafia-born or a civilian. If you were Mafia-born like Tsunayoshi, or Hayato or Basil, or Dino or any of Tsunayoshi's friends in Mafia Row, then being the child of a Boss made you special. If you were a civilian, then being special meant that one was smart, highly so, gifted, had a talent that had been head-hunted or that you were 'recommended' to come. Reborn hadn't been trying to be inspirational when he said that they were the 'future generation'. The civilians were also being trained, spotting useful talents for Families. Not all members of a Mafia Family did bad things, and not every human being was a good person.

"I'm going to give each of you a number and don't forget it. I don't want to have to do this more than once. These will be your groups for the lesson." Nezu-senei explains, before starting at the other side of the class, pointing to people whilst saying a number. When they finally got into groups, Tsunayoshi found himself with Kyoko, a boy with a weird apple hat, a girl with brown hair who looked bored and… disgusted? As well as a bright-eyed blond who kept on looking at him.

"H-hello, I'm Tsunayoshi," He introduces, smiling at the new people he didn't know.

"And I'm Kyoko, nice to meet you," She continues, bowing politely.

"Heya, I'm Emiko Hiwatari," Says the blond with enthusiasm that takes the pair back.

There is silence for a few seconds, the brunette obviously waiting for the hatted boy to go next, but since he doesn't make a sound, she soon rolls her eyes impatiently, sighing whilst she says, "I'm Hana Kurokawa." Tsunayoshi slides away from her slightly, since it seems like she's in a bad mood.

"…And you are…?" Tsunayoshi prompts, looking at the apple hatted male. He'd never seen a hat like that before- it was so big and tall. Luce's hat was big, but it didn't stand up like that. The boy underneath looks rather blankly ahead, not doing much other than rock on his chair.

After a rather extended wait, the boy finally says, "I'm me of course. Who else would I be?" The voice is as flat as his look currently is; he must be really really really REALLY bored!

"A-ha-ha" Tsunayoshi laughs nervously, "But what should we call you by?"

"You, boy who is too cute to be male, can call me Fran." The apple hatted boy explains, hands pulling on Tsunayoshi's cheeks as he talks.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Emiko shouts, slapping Fran's hands away.

"Can we just get on with this?" Hana asks, voice short and sharp, arms folded in annoyance. Tsunayoshi looks at her before deciding it would be a very good idea to get a move on, and quickly picks up the book they were supposed to be reading out loud to each other.

"Here Kyoko, why don't you go first?"

The lesson had flown by, although their reading wasn't exactly a normal one, not with Hana reading as fast as possible, Fran reading in a monotone and rather slow voice, Emiko reading with too much enthusiasm so that it sounded horrendous instead, and Tsunayoshi himself stuttering on a few words he didn't know. Kyoko was helpful enough to explain the symbols he didn't know- having learnt Japanese all her life, she knew more than he did. Although Tsunayoshi had to wonder whether his eyes had been playing tricks on him whilst Fran was reading out loud, for he swore that he could see the story being played out on the table before him, a cat and a dog appearing from nowhere, walking across the desk and disappearing off the other edge. The pictures are faint, ghostly even.

When they finish, he watches as Emiko bounces away over to a gaggle of girls all huddling together. He sees a few looking in his direction before giggling loudly and bursting into excited chattering. Another girl soon joins them- Tsunayoshi thinks she was in Enma's group- and the same thing happens: they all look towards Enma, blush and giggle before chattering. He shivers, getting a feeling like he wasn't safe. He glances over to Enma and sees that the boy feels the same, both looking at each other with confused fear in their eyes. At least they wouldn't leave the other to fend for themselves.

* * *

><p>And eventually they change lesson (and for some odd reason, classroom too), this time to maths. At the word, an innate fear flashes through him, but he brushes it off as one of those weird yet wrong feelings. He actually liked maths, it was important to a lot of the Arcobaleno, like Viper for obvious reasons, Verde because it seemed like a lot of maths happened in science, Lal and Colonnello for keeping track of their supplies and finally Skull. Skull used maths to calculate the distances between ramps, taking into account the speed and weight of the bike, as well as his angle of trajectory. Verde had given him formulae to help incorporate the change that certain stunts would cause in this distance. It wasn't like he was going to find these things out by trial and error was it? This way was much safer… Okay, so maybe he did use trial and error before he met Verde, but that was beside the point.<p>

Part way through the lesson Tsunayoshi gets bored and looks around the room- he already knew how to add numbers together, assuming that the answer was less than twenty- seeing what his friends were doing. Haru was listening to the teacher like a good student should, writing things down, as was Kyoko. From that he could see of the mechanics, they weren't listening at all, but instead drawing pictures, no doubt of robots or things to 'impress' Verde with, although he was sure he could see already finished worksheets to the side of the desk. Glancing to his right, he spots Hayato, who it currently writing with his left hand… but wasn't he right handed? Tsunayoshi watches for a few seconds, seeing Hayato swap hands, the pencil in his right, solve a math problem and then switch hands again before solving the next one. He'd have to ask Hayato later on why he was doing something like that.

Looking behind him, he sees that Takeshi has his arms on the table, his head on his arms and is… sleeping? How could he sleep during class?! Directly behind him is Enma, who looks highly confused and panicked. He keeps looking between the page and the teacher, eyes getting wider and wider with each switch of focus. Tsunayoshi thinks that maybe Enma is confused or lost. Behind Enma is Ken, who has his feet on the desk once more, leaning back precariously, trying to balance a pencil on his nose. Next to him, Chikusa is taking notes with one hand and bouncing the yoyo with the other. Somehow the yoyo never stops it's bouncing, the rhythm never fluctuating.

_~Tap tap tap taptatap tatatap~_

Trying to find the source of the tapping, Tsunayoshi soon pinpoints the culprit- Naito Longchamp. Although he didn't have any earphones in, Naito was still rocking his head forwards and backwards in time with the tapping of a pencil against the desk. Although it was surprising that the chair wasn't jumping around with how hard Naito seemed to be moving.

"Hey, you at the back! Stop making such a racket," The maths teacher complains, a rubber just missing Naito's head as the child does another head-banging movement. "Alright alright, don't get cha panties in a twist!" Naito laughs, hand flapping. The male teacher looks disgruntled before turning back to the board to continue explaining something. Naito does keep to his word, even putting the pencil down so he doesn't bang it against the table again. So instead, he plays some air-guitar.

As Tsunayoshi looks around the rest of the room, it suddenly becomes very clear who the civilians are and who is a mafia heir. Very few of the mafia children were actually doing any work. There are paper-planes being thrown, doodling, note passing and a whole range of activities taking place behind the teacher's back. Anyone who is caught gets a telling off and a rubber thrown at them. Tsunayoshi manages to avoid that fate, fearing more than anything that Reborn would walk in and catch him doing something naughty.

The building shakes and shivers, loud noises coming from upstairs. No one has a clue what made those noises though, but to Tsunayoshi it sounds like a lot of jumping around and maybe even something hitting the floor hard. The teacher ignores it, making it seem like a usual occurrence. He sees something move out of the corner of his eye, almost as if it was jumping past the window and upwards. He might have missed it if it wasn't a black shadow. It seems familiar somehow, but it passed by too quickly for him to notice. A few moments later, the banging stops.

"Stop staring at the ceiling, it's not going to fall down no matter how hard they try." The teacher orders, before muttering something about violent brats under his breath. Finally he puts his pen down and turns to the class. "Alright, you can pack up your stuff now and go to the end of the corridor for your science lesson. Although it'll be a little different from usual."

Tsunayoshi wonders what the maths teacher means by this whilst packing up all his pretty coloured pencils.

"Are you ready to go Tsunayoshi-sama?" Hayato asks, waiting patiently by his side as always.

"Yeah," Tsunayoshi nods, standing up. "Oh Hayato, what were you doing earlier, using both hands to write with?"

Hayato blushes at being caught, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "It's so I can write more things down, or write down two different things at once. Lancia gave it a posh name when I talked to him about it once. Plus it also helps with my piano playing too. Shamal said it's good for fights too, since very few people expect to meet a left handed fighter, let alone one who can swap sides. If I can use either hand, I can hit more places or throw my dynamites more accurately into weird spaces. So I'm going to try really really hard to master it so I can protect Tsunayoshi-sama better."

Tsunayoshi smiles, "You don't have to do that for me you know Hayato." A few minutes later, Tsunayoshi regrets saying that, for Hayato has started to list off all the reasons that Tsuna is worthy of such treatment.

"Ne, Tsunayoshi-chan, science ain't going to be boring too is it?" Ken whines, walking behind the pair.

"I don't know, we'll just have to see," Tsunayoshi replies, it's not like he could tell the future or anything. Plus he was looking forwards to learning the subject that Verde lived and breathed. "Although the teacher said there was going to be something different about it. I wonder what that will be?"

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><p><strong>One more setting up chapter as such, and then I'll be moving onto the more actioninteresting stuff. This chapter was more to introduce Fran and Hana than anything, with a few hints of stuff to come placed here and there. **

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 28 March 2013 **


	90. And New Experiences

Chapter 90

And New Experiences

**Sorry again for disappearing, but this time I was ill for a week. You know how you get ill after finishing school or after exam week, well it was like that. I'm a lot better now, so I can finally write something for you all. **

**And well done to all of you who guessed who is appearing at the start of this chapter!**

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi followed everyone else towards the room for their science lesson, listening to the chattering going on around him. He hoped that Science was fun, with things exploding and fizzing and bubbling like Verde did sometimes. Although Science was always fun if it meant he got to spend time with Verde, even if it meant sitting and being quiet and still for a long time.<p>

He opens the door and walks inside, looking at all the posters on the walls and the ornaments on the sides and all of the really big books with lots of pictures. They all sat down, looking around with interest. To avoid any fights they all sat in the same places around Tsunayoshi- not that he had noticed this at all. Within a few minutes, a tall man wearing a lab coat and thick green glasses walks in and slams his clipboard onto the desk, drawing quiet from the children around.

"I am Professor Midori and will be your substitute for today. You actual teacher, Clara Bovino is currently ill and will be returning for your lesson tomorrow. I'm merely covering for her as a favour."

Tsunayoshi blinked, and blinked again. The children burst into chatter- guessing correctly that this was the unusual thing that their previous teacher had warned them about. But for Tsunayoshi, there was something else unusual about the teacher, who had spiky green hair, wore two pens in his pocket, had the same dull yet keenly observant eyes as someone he knew very well. It was clearly Verde, with green glasses on instead of black ones and a stethoscope around his neck - a very Reborn-like cosplay change. And just like with Reborn, anyone he asked said that the person infront of them wasn't Verde. But it just had to be, even the name was like one of Reborn's- Midori was Japanese for green after all. Although to think that Reborn and Verde had successfully collaborated on anything was purely a miracle.

Later, when Verde was handing out papers for the students to play dot-to-dot with and draw star constellations (pre-prepared by the actual teacher, Verde would never design something so simplistic) Tsunayoshi almost reaches out to touch him, but he doesn't. All day Verde's had this hard cold atmosphere around him, and it was one Tsunayoshi knew very well. It was his work or public persona, one all of the Arcobaleno had to keep their prestigious reputations in place as unreachable superstars, as the best in their chosen fields, the perfect Arcobaleno. Tsunayoshi knew the implications and rules surrounding this aura too, it meant he couldn't run up and hug Verde.

But Verde catches the look in Tsunayoshi's eyes. Over the past five years he had gotten better at reading and understanding human emotions- something he had never really bothered with before- and it was especially easy when Tsunayoshi wore his heart on his sleeve.

"Why so surprised?" He asks, voice low enough that it won't travel past Tsunayoshi's friends, even if none of them recognised him. "I did say I would see you later, did I not?" He puts the paper down before walking onwards to place the next piece of paper on Enma's desk. Tsunayoshi's jaw almost drops- had Verde… just made a comedic remark? When Verde had said 'See you later' this morning Tsunayoshi had thought it meant what it usually meant, and that he'd see Verde after school. But now he was here instead.

Then it struck Tsunayoshi that it meant Verde had not only _left the lab_ but also _snuck in_ to the school. Tsunayoshi had to wonder whether the teacher was genuinely ill, or whether an 'accident' by Reborn had made it so. Although at least it was a Bovino being his real teacher, they were always fun to work with. So he attacked his work with vigour, grinning like a sane version of Belphegor the whole time, highly delighted with Verde's behaviour, and in Tsunayoshi's eyes, show of love.

His enthusiasm is noted by a lot of people, his fanclub across the room finding his smile adorable, and Hayato thinking it was all rather marvellous. Although, Hayato might have had the wrong idea...

"I didn't know you liked astronomy too Tsunayoshi-sama!" He whispered during the dot-to-dot exercise. It was just like Hayato to know the posh word for this.

"Yeah! I love star gazing," he replies, nodding. It was always nice to go outside with Verde and Colonnello on a cloudless night and watch the stars.

"I do to! Lots of UMA's come from outer space, so I'm always keeping a look out in case they try to communicate with us!" Hayato explains excitedly.

The lesson continues with its astronomical theme, but basically ends up being a game of 'name that picture' as constellations were shown on the projector- luckily lots were animals like Leo or Taurus. However ten minutes later finds the class staring dumbly at their teacher as he talks, none of them understanding every other word that comes out of his mouth, not even Hayato or the mechanics know what Verde is saying.

Only Tsunayoshi is brave enough to do something about it. Verde in work mode was highly overwhelming and rather intimidating, even for adults and other scientists. So gingerly he raises his hand, knowing that Verde doesn't like being interrupted in mid-flow, but knowing that it was important. Verde stops and looks in Tsunayoshi's direction, head nodding to show he could speak.

"Um Ver- Midori-Sensei, you're using big words again." He explains, hoping that no one noticed the slip. In general the class didn't, and those who did were more concerned with the 'again' part rather than the 'Ver' part.

Verde blinks, takes a second to repeat what he had just been saying in his head and realises that he had indeed been talking at too advanced level for these children, even if they were all highly smart for their age. Professor Midori takes another look at his clipboard with the notes Bovino-Sensei had been going to use for this lesson, and starts to re-explain himself in much simpler terms that the rest could understand.

The lesson ends soon enough, Verde making a hasty and to the point exit as usual. Tsunayoshi pouts, he hadn't even gotten to say goodbye. Tsunayoshi stands with his friends, talking to them about the lesson and what they expect from their next lesson, walking across the classroom towards the door. They take a look at the posters and objects on this side of the room, not having gotten to see them earlier.

He looks to the wall closest to him and sees a huge skeleton that was the height of any adult. It didn't scare him, Verde had one like it in the lab, and also one that showed the insides of a person- he had liked to play with it as a baby according to Luce and a grossed out Skull. However it was wobbling, leaning further and further forwards as if it wanted to look over this girl's shoulder. Seeing it waver again, Tsunayoshi knew it was going to fall. He runs forwards, shouting at the girl and pushes her out of the way before the skeleton collapses on top of him. He squeaks at it's weight, and also from yet another impact with the floor (although he was used to it with how clumsy he was).

"Tsunayoshi no!" Enma shouts, rushing over, "Shittopi-chan said that the living dead would rise and attack us!" He almost cries, not sure whether to help Tsunayoshi or run from the moving skeleton. In the meantime, Ken is laughing his head off at Tsunayoshi's misfortune, finding it hilarious, more than used to the small boy's clumsiness from their time together at home. Hayato, who had been at the other side of the room looking at one of the posters of the stars, immediately rushed over to help lift the skeleton off. The girl who he had rescued, along with her friends, and finally Enma, all helped, and soon Tsunayoshi could wiggle free and stand back up again.

"Ah! Tsunayoshi-sama, you're bleeding!" Hayato exclaims, hands waving around in panic.

"Maa maa Hayato, calm down, it's only a nose bleed." Takeshi says, peering over Hayato's shoulder.

"Oh no Tsunayoshi!" Haru cries, "Here, take this desu." She hands over a handkerchief with little flowers in the corners.

"Don't worry Tsunayoshi, it's not a bad one." Enma comments, knowing from personal experience- his family were rather rough, added to his clumsy nature meant he got rather a lot of them.

"I'll take you to see the nurse!" Hayato shouts, hands out to the sides to push everyone away to give him space. The girls agree, as do most of the others. Shoichi doesn't say much, not really liking the sight of blood, it made his stomach hurt. Spanner just hands Tsunayoshi a lollipop as he passes 'to make the ouches stop' apparently.

Hayato mutters the whole time to himself about stupid skeletons and stupid schools that couldn't even take care of their stupid equipment properly, getting angrier and angrier by the second. Tsunayoshi doesn't really mind, knowing that Hayato got into these moods every so often, although these mutterings were usually about pineapple madmen and rabid mutated mutts instead.

The bomber slams the door to the infirmary open, shouting "Oi woman! Come and heal Tsunayoshi-sama!". Tsunayoshi is flabbergasted by Hayato's language, he hadn't heard the other sound like that since he had left his old house. Of course, Tsunayoshi never heard how the residents of The Shed talked to each other, with the exception of Chrome, who demanded respect, both as a female and also because she could be damn scary if she wanted to be.

There is a yawn from over by the window, a lump by the desk moves, sitting up and stretching. "Hmm… stop being so loud in the morning brat." Says a man's voice, not a woman's like they were expecting. "I was having a nice dream until your horrid voice interrupted it."

The speaker turns, and the pair find that it's Shamal.

"Hey, Old Man, what you doing here? Isn't this place too young for one of your Sisters to be here?" Hayato was sure all of Shamal's sisters were in their early twenties or above. He'd never seen Shamal babysit someone their age.

Shamal himself looks disgusted, drawing himself up regally straight. "Of course not you idiot. I'm not a lolicon or a sick pervert." He looks away, a scowl on his face. "I'd much rather be at the high school, at least there the girls have something to look at, flat chests are boring. But No, I'm stuck here with a load of smart brats around my ankles." The pair were sure that Shamal was now talking to himself. "If only Luce hadn't asked so sweetly…"

"The Arcobaleno will be mad at you if you don't fix Tsunayoshi-sama right this instant. You know I'll tell on you." Hayato threatens. And whilst normally Shamal would scoff at the notion of being 'told on', when the Arcobaleno were involved, the threat was a serious danger.

So instead he looks at the rather quiet Tsunayoshi and the red handkerchief. "Nose bleed is it chibi?" Tsunayoshi nods. "Sit down over there, put your chin to your chest and pinch just here really tightly. It'll stop in a minute." Leaning forwards, Shamal shows Tsunayoshi just where to pinch, also feeling to check whether the bone was broken or not. Since the Arcobaleno's kid was alright, he returns to sitting at the desk, flicking through a magazine that was certainly not suitable for either a school nor anyone this young.

Tsunayoshi sits where he's told, Hayato sitting next to him. The silveret looks up at his mentor before asking. "So if it ain't because of a sister, then why are you here?"

Shamal sighs once again, spinning on the chair to look at the boys. "For some extra cash. And because the Arcobaleno asked me to." And so he could chase some sexy teachers and maybe some sexy single mothers, or not so single ones, he wasn't picky. And maybe… so he could watch Lavina's brat grow up in her place.

Hayato seemed to accept this as a reason and instead focused on Tsunayoshi. A few minutes later, the bleeding had stopped, and after a quick wipe with a damp cloth, Shamal kicked them both out, wanting to get back to his nap.

But instead of heading towards their next class, Tsunayoshi takes a different way, Hayato following behind like a puppy. He doesn't know where Tsunayoshi-sama is going, although it looks like they are following someone, if the look on Tsunayoshi-sama's face is anything to go by. Actually Tsunayoshi is following someone, someone who had been watching them for a little while now. Now if only she'd stop walking!

Finally the two boys stop outside of a closed door that read 'Finance' on it.

"Why are we here Tsunayoshi-sama?" Hayato asks, looking at the door. "This is only for adults, we don't have a class here."

Tsunayoshi ignored him, instead putting an ear to the door. Like he suspected there wasn't the sound of anybody in there. Good. "Ne, Hayato, why not go back to class, I'll be there soon." Seeing that Hayato was about to protest, he adds, "You need to check that the others' haven't taken our seats."

"Che, if that baseball idiot thinks he can take my chair I'll prove him wrong. I'll blast him so hard he won't be able to see straight for weeks!" Hayato grumbles, stomping down the corridor towards their next classroom.

Once Hayato was gone, Tsunayoshi slips inside the room, closing the door behind him.

"I'm alright, there's no more ouchies. And I don't need a kiss and a plaster either." He says, smiling up at the person before him.

She grumbles, looking away. "I wasn't checking on you. I was checking to see if that worthless doctor was actually doing his job. If not I'll have to dock his pay. This place, whilst grand and prestigious runs on budgets like any other."

"Shamal was doing his job. He fixed me up." Tsunayoshi protested. "Anyway, what are you doing here Viper? I've already seen Reborn and Verde this morning. Do you all think I'll get into that much trouble?" He tilts his head, looking cute and fragile.

The obvious answer to that question was yes, he did get into that much trouble, but that didn't need to be said. "Well that's not surprising. Reborn is actually the dean of all three schools, this one, the high school and the university. The places pretty much run themselves but Reborn still has the final word on things. And as for Verde, I didn't know he was coming. It's hard enough to get him to teach the odd university lecture, he never teaches anyone younger than that. Did he say why he was there?" Viper asks, looking up from her paperwork, curious. It was hard getting Verde out of his lab for any reason.

"Um, he said that Clara Bovino was sick and he'd come to take over for the day." Tsunayoshi explains.

Viper's pen stops moving and she's glad that her hood covers her eyes or else Tsunayoshi would see them widen. So that's why Reborn had asked her for that information out of her locker… Oh well, Clara's loss.

"Ah, I see." Viper says, her voice not expressing her emotions at the revelation. She then points with her pen at the paperwork around her. "As you can see, I'm here to do the accounts. Reborn pays me handsomely for it," And indeed Tsunayoshi can see her money-happy smile on her face, it really must be a lot of money. "and the Varia don't need me whilst they're stuck here. The accounts are always good at the start of the year, but by the time it comes to the last semester, everything's gone wrong and they're nearly always running out of money. I want to keep a better eye on it this year. I am not losing money again." Tsunayoshi takes a step back at her fierceness. Losing money was a big no-no, he knew that much.

Tsunayoshi pouts, having thought that Viper had snuck in here to see him too. But it seemed that all three Arcobaleno had had legitimate reasons for being here. But he doesn't let that news stop him from walking around the table and jumping onto Viper's lap- the door was closed so it was alright. Plus he didn't want to go back to lessons now, it was far too late. More importantly, he had a feeling that entering a classroom late was a humiliating and scary experience. Considering he'd been on time for both classes so far, he didn't know where these feelings came from, but he wasn't going to ignore them.

He jumps when a bell rings, he had been engrossed in watching Viper work.

"That's the noon bell, you should go outside and find your friends for lunch." Viper explains, lifting Tsunayoshi down.

"Okay Viper. Don't forget to eat lunch too you know." He giggles before walking towards the door. "Bye-bye!"

He walks down the corridors that are filling up with students, noticing the sudden arrival of taller people. They were all coming down from upstairs it seemed. It had been mentioned in a class earlier on that the second and third years had the upper two stories, whilst the fourth and fifth years had the two stories underground. All the students are heading towards the open doors, sunlight, fresh air and general freedom. Tsunayoshi follows the crowd, not really having a choice.

"Hey, who are those scary people in black around the place?" A girl asks to someone who seems like her older brother. Looking in the direction she was pointing, he could see a person dressed in all black and white patrolling the walls of the school, keeping an eye on both the inside and the outside. He realised that this must have been the flash of black he had seen earlier going to sort out trouble in the room above.

"Hm?" Asks the older brother. "Oh them. They are always wearing those funny clothes, but they aren't funny people. They are security guards for the school. If students start very dangerous fights, or if people from outside try to get in then they stop them. You know that some of the students here carry weapons even at our age, and that others are from rich families, so the protection is needed." Tsunayoshi believes that this pair are civilian students or else they wouldn't mind the array of weapons that the mafia children used.

Interested, Tsunayoshi walks over to the man in black, looking almost directly up since the man was walking along the wall.

"Um, excuse me, Mr Vindice sir, but does Bermuda know you're here?" Tsunayoshi asks politely. He only vaguely remembered this particular Vindice, which mean he wasn't one of Bermuda's close friends.

The Vindice member looks down before jumping off the wall to stand infront of Tsunayoshi. His chains were nowhere in sight at the moment, although Tsunayoshi suspected they were under the cloak so he didn't scare the students. "Good Afternoon Tsunayoshi. Of course Bermuda-sama knows that I am here, he was the one that designed the rota after all. Although he gave rather short notice, I was only told this morning." Upon hearing this, Tsunayoshi smiles and giggles- Bermuda had mentioned creating some rotas this morning.

"So why do you have to be here? Surely children our age don't need a security guard?" Tsunayoshi asks, looking up at the man, brows lowered and lips pursed in confusion. This Officer now knew what Jager meant by the child having decaying sweetness.

"For protection. Mafia Bosses' children attend this school. This makes it a prime location for some sort of attack, either between rival and allied forces, against a certain boss in particular. Then this school is known publically for teaching students of high intelligence, which makes it a good target for the general sort of kidnappers and terrorists who want to make a point. This place needs protecting and who better than the Vindice."

"We are the Vindice and our word is law." Tsunayoshi recites, smiling. The Officer bows his head, a hand to his hat in reply.

"You had better run along now Tsunayoshi. I'm sure your friends are looking for you." The Mafia Jailer explains, rising from his bow. Tsunayoshi nods, waving to the Officer before running off to find the others. The Officer jumps back onto the wall, looking down the other side. "Really Bermuda-sama, why did you hide? The child shall notice you eventually."

"Because I'm not supposed to be here." Bermuda explains, peeking over the wall to get a glimpse of Tsunayoshi. "And anyway the boy can take care of himself."

"If you knew that My Lord when why are you here?" Asks a third cold voice. Bermuda freezes, then sighs, knowing he's been caught. "I do believe that there's some very important paperwork awaiting your attention in your office. I'm not letting you get out of it. We can play chase all day if we have to, but it just means you won't be going back to Tsunayoshi tonight."

"Yes Jager, I'm coming." Bermuda sighs again. Why did his right hand have to be such a kill-joy? The pair both leave the premises, leaving the original Vindice officer to get back to protecting the school.

Tsunayoshi hadn't noticed any of this. Since they were around civilians, the Vindice had kept a very tight control on their Flames, making them hardly noticeable. For most Mafioso even just the sight of a Vindice would send them off running scared. Instead, Tsunayoshi weaved his way through the crowds of children eating and playing, trying to find a familiar face. Not seeing anyone, he decides to walk between two buildings to get to the back of the school and see if they were there instead.

But that, it seems, was a mistake.

* * *

><p><strong>And with this ends the setting up chapters! Hopefully everything from here on will be more interesting. <strong>

**See you all next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 07 April 2013**


	91. You'll Make Some Enemies

Chapter 91:

You'll Make Some Enemies

This alleyway was rather dark, with the two school buildings looming tall either side, but being only the first day here, Tsunayoshi didn't know of any other way to go. Those strange feelings said that he shouldn't have walked this way, that he should have stayed in the light where everyone could see him, even if he was ignored most of the time. Well now, that feeling was being wrong again, he'd hardly been ignored from the moment he'd stepped into the place, he'd had far too many male and female eyes watching him (he wasn't sure which gender to be more scared of) and as such he was rather sceptical of the rest. So he continued walking towards the bright light on the other side, hoping to find his friends soon.

But suddenly the bright light was cut off by a few shadows. They came closer to him and eventually Tsunayoshi could see that they were other children, although they seemed to be older than him. He didn't recognise any of them though, but from the way they looked, Tsunayoshi would say that they're Mafioso's children rather than civilians. There was four of them, one clearly standing infront of the others. He was a pretty boy, blond hair and ice blue eyes, a full blooded Italian. To his right was a Japanese boy, black hair and dark eyes, with the other two being more pure Italians.

"Are you lost?" The blond asks, looking down at Tsunayoshi.

Tsunayoshi gets the distinct feeling that he should start running, although he doesn't know why, this boy hadn't done anything to him yet, in fact he seemed pretty nice, asking if he was lost.

"No, I'm not. I'm just looking for my friends." Tsunayoshi replies truthfully, watching as the two other boys move to stand at his other side.

"Oh really? Well maybe we should help you find them," The blond says, voice sharper than before. The boys around laugh, but Tsunayoshi doesn't get the joke.

"Yeah, I'm sure that they're in this direction." Says one standing near Tsunayoshi's back before attempting to kick Tsunayoshi towards the blond boy. However, Tsunayoshi sensed the kick even if it was out of his peripheral- one wasn't the Arcobaleno's child without being able to tell when one was being attacked- and jumps to the side, closer to the wall.

"Hey, that's not nice." He says pouting.

Annoyed that Goon number one had missed, Goon number two takes a punch at Tsunayoshi. Again Tsunayoshi dodges, taking another step backwards so he was out of reach. The pair keep coming at him until Tsunayoshi ends up with his back against a wall.

"Um excuse me, but why are you attacking?" Tsunayoshi asks confused. He was sure he'd never met these people before. He knew every child on Mafia Row, with the exception of the other experiments Estraneo had had, but Tsunayoshi knew that they were safe somewhere else and none of them would be well enough to be back in normal society yet anyway. Nor did it look like these people had been experimented on either. So if he had never met them before then why were they attacking him.

"Look, if you're just after a fight then I'm not really the best person to ask." He explains. He knew this from experience; unless it was Kyoya or an adult, when Tsunayoshi actually fought back he was rather strong and won most of his fights. But generally in fights he just jumped around the place and dodged until the other person gave up- this seemed to work on the majority of the Shimon children.

"Are you two taking this seriously or not?" Asked the Japanese boy from where he'd been watching.

The pair stop in their barrage to turn and face him. "Of course we're trying. He's just sneaky. Why not try for yourself Mochida."

The name causes a flash of memory to flit across Tsunayoshi's mind, some sort of vague fear, jealousy, anger and a name, the Momokyokai Yakuza.

The boy named Mochida leans forwards, a sneer on his face. "Che, not worth my time. You two can keep trying."

The pair growl and turn back towards Tsunayoshi, anger clear on their faces as they start to throw more wild kicks and punches. Both were annoyed that this runt was showing them up and making them look bad.

"How would you handle this then Mochida?" Asks the blond, turning to look at the Japanese boy instead of keeping an eye on the 'fight'.

"Well in Japan we call them out, Boss. I'd fight him in a public battle, like in Kendo or martial arts or something. No teachers watching of course. Teachers are strict on fights at school. If not at school then we'd catch them after school." Mochida shrugs.

"I'd beat you in martial arts by the way." Tsunayoshi says, having heard the conversation.

* * *

><p>A little way away, outside of the school grounds, two people are sat in a tree watching the fiasco go down. The blue haired woman puts a hand to her forehead, shaking her head as she did so.<p>

"Tsunayoshi shouldn't have said that." She sighs. "Just because Reborn goes around saying he's better than everyone doesn't mean he should do it too."

There is a muffled reply to her right, along with the tree shaking slightly. "Stop moving idiot." Lal says, slapping Colonnello.

Colonnello glares at her, but can't really say anything because of the gag in his mouth. He wiggles again, trying to free himself.

"I'm not untying you until you're calm and won't go down there to thrash four six year olds. You're supposed to be an adult you know." Lal had known it was a good idea to get some rope from the armoury this morning. Colonnello nods, taking a deep breath and stopped moving. Lal sighs and undoes the gag, but still keeps Colonnello tied to the tree.

"I know that, kora." He says haughtily. "And anyway, the experience will be good for Tsunayoshi. What I wanna know is why those punks attacked him out of nowhere."

Lal doesn't reply to that, she didn't know the answer either, so instead turns to look back at the scene through the scope of her riffle, putting her headphones back on so she could hear what was being said through the bug she'd put on Tsunayoshi earlier. She also made sure that her stock of special bullets were near-by in case she needed to use them- they were rubber, she wasn't going to use actual bullets on any child other than Tsunayoshi and the five brats back home.

* * *

><p>"Oh you would, would ya?" Goon number two says gritting his teeth. "I bet you're just saying that to gain even more attention. Knowing martial arts would make you look even better right?"<p>

Tsunayoshi tilts his head, blinking at them in confusion. What on earth was he talking about?

"Che, don't pull that face at us! We ain't going to fall for it like all the girls have." Spits the blond boy, throwing a handful of dirt at Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi gets his arms up in time to stop the dirt getting in his eyes or mouth, and steps to the side to dodge a punch like his intuition prompted.

"Yeah, we saw that play you put on with those weirdoes this morning. Trying to play the hero." Scoffed Goon number one. That kid who had acted like an animal was downright weird.

"All we've heard today is how there are these really cute first years. None of the girls have paid us even a moments attention all day." Mochida explains.

"And everyone watched you talk to the scary Vindice just now. You were just showing off how brave and fearless you are. No one talks to those scary guys, no one. Stop drawing attention to yourself."

"That's why we're gonna teach you the order of things around here, so you don't step out of place." Goon number one explains, a snarl on his face as he cracked his knuckles in preparation for another attempt at smacking the annoying runt.

"But I wasn't trying to do any of that!" Tsunayoshi claims, dodging yet another punch easily.

* * *

><p>Fon sighs, binoculars raised to his eyes. "Jealousy is such a horrible emotion. Sadly one the Mafia is filled with."<p>

"Heh, you can preach all you want but that's not going to change." Reborn laughs, looking through his own Leon-binoculars.

"I do commend Tsunayoshi for not fighting back though. He has done well so far. Although I fear I might have to give him some lessons in negotiations." His words were doing more damage than good and aggravating the bullies instead.

"He's doing fine." Reborn says instead; as if words were really going to stop anything, especially at this age, they were only children after all.

"You want him to fight back already," Fon sighs, looking over at Reborn. "You know that's not going to help, Tsunayoshi's looks will counteract all of that. Since he doesn't look very manly he's just going to get more people thinking they can beat him and pick on him because he looks weak. Showing that he is in fact stronger than even the third years isn't going to solve anything."

"He should have a reputation in place before certain facts are revealed. Once everyone finds out just who he is, even more people will be after him to prove themselves. Once they know what Tsunayoshi is capable of then most of the prideful or half-hearted bullies should just leave him alone. After that, only those who just like to pick a fight will be left and fighting against them will be good training for certain people. After getting beaten by him, most will back down, or if not they'll just get motivated to become stronger to beat him at a later date."

"Sounds like something the Dean would say. You mentioned that this morning, 'You're all here for an important reason- to become part of the future generation'. I thought you were trying to be inspiring, but you actually meant it. You're hoping that competition between the students and Tsunayoshi will force them to better themselves. In ten or twenty years then there will be a whole generation of stronger, smarter and more capable Mafioso." Fon raised his eyebrow at Reborn's foresight. "Since most of the children here will be bosses or high up in Families, it'll create a new generation of better Families as well as Mafioso."

"There's more to it than that, but in general you're correct." Reborn says, eyes never leaving the scene before him. "Although if that's all you're seeing then you're obviously miscalculating Tsunayoshi's influence on all this."

Fon sits there for a few seconds and thinks about what Reborn meant by that. It was never easy to understand the hitman nor his roundabout methods.

"And you're opinion on this Luce?" He asks. If she had had any visions about the future recently she hadn't told any of them. But then again she never told them much unless it was necessary. In the end all they could do was trust her to know what she as doing. Luckily, all the Arcobaleno had immense trust in Luce.

"What do I think?" She repeats from her position on a lower down branch. "Well I think that if they get Tsunayoshi's uniform dirty I'm going to give them a right earful."

* * *

><p>"Please, you really should stop. I haven't done anything wrong and I don't really get what you're talking about." Tsunayoshi pleads, ducking under a punch, letting the Goon smack his knuckles against the wall. He had no clue why these boys kept on bringing the girls up. Sure they kept on looking his way and giggling, but that was it and he had no clue why they did that in the first place. It was actually rather creepy to be honest, he knew Enma felt the same way.<p>

His words had no effect on his attackers, the blond boy looked even more infuriated and disgusted than earlier. The Goons were getting annoyed too because none of them had yet to land a hit on the girlish runt. So they decided to change tactics. Both lunged in and grabbed one of Tsunayoshi's arms, pinning him to the wall.

"I'll finish this off Boss, no need to dirty your hands." Mochida says, taking a step forwards.

"Please, let me go!" Tsunayoshi almost shouts, wiggling to get free. He didn't want to have to use the moves Fon had taught him if he didn't have to. Fon said it was shameful to attack people weaker than him, but those moves had been taught for self-defence and Tsunayoshi was pretty sure this would count as self-defence, even if it wasn't an adult attacking him. Another part of him was cowering in fear, screaming that this was going to hurt for the next few days and cursing his luck to be the weak and stupid Dame-Tsuna. If he held still this would hurt less and they'd go away quicker. The fear was consuming, freezing him to the spot.

He remembered Skull's words from this morning, about how bullies would come back again and again if he didn't do something. His not-memories said that was true too, hence why he was so scared. But then he remembered Lal's words from this morning, telling him not to back down infront of them. If he was beaten up it would reflect badly on the Arcobaleno. If only his body would move!

"Kufufufu~ what a lovely chat you're having here. I'd love to be involved."

"Put Tsunayoshi-sama down right this instance or else I'll break every finger you have."

All the boys turn to look down the end of the pathway and find two figures standing there. They walk closer to gang and what the bullies see makes them freeze. One boy looked to be their age- most likely the new transfer student- yet he had two different coloured eyes, one a bloody red shining in violent delight. The other seemed younger than they with weird silver hair and a snarl on his face. But the scariest thing about him was the lit dynamites sparking in his hands. They weren't about to find out whether the boy was bluffing or not.

They immediately drop the girlish runt and run in the opposite direction, only to be stopped by someone landing infront of them.

"Oh no, it's Hibari." The blond hissed. Hibari Kyoya was a third year who had control of all the third year delinquents and enforced whatever rules he saw fit. He had been feared ever since the first year he came here. His reputation was known far and wide in the school.

Hayato and Mukuro left the bullies under Kyoya's care whilst they checked on Tsunayoshi instead. It was clear that their friend wasn't hurt, only scared.

"Che, who do they think they are, attacking you on your first day." Hayato growls, just about ready to go over there and add a few injuries of his own to the ones the bullies were already receiving from Kyoya. "Did they say anything to you?"

"Um, they said they didn't like how all the girls kept looking at me and how I was trying to show off by stopping Ken from fighting this morning and by talking to one of the Vindice." Tsunayoshi repeats, looking at them both in confusion.

"Kufufu, they are jealous of you and your angelic looks my dear Tsunayoshi." Mukuro laughs, gently brushing some dirt off of Tsunayoshi's cheek. "Such creatures are below you and are not worth your time. You should forget them and pretend they don't even exist."

"Exactly." Hayato nods, for once agreeing with Mukuro. "I bet they're from some lower class Famiglia anyway." Tsunayoshi wasn't about to comment that they weren't even in a Famiglia technically since they lived with the Arcobaleno. But then again, the Arcobaleno were prestigious in their own right apparently, everyone respected them and were worried about displeasing the Arcobaleno.

"But why didn't you fight back? I know for a fact that you could handle such low-lives." Mukuro drawls, looking down at Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi had bested him in a fight once by numbing the nerves in his arms and making him drop his trident. Hand to hand combat without his trident wasn't really Mukuro's thing so things had gone downhill from there.

"Err… It was… Well… I don't really know." Tsunayoshi said, confusion evident in his voice. "I know I shouldn't be, but I was scared of them. I know some of the scariest people in the Mafia and I'm not scared of them, but for some reason I found the bullies terrifying. Something told me I should be afraid of them."

"Hmm…" Mukuro said, looking at Tsunayoshi with a considering gleam in his eyes. He wondered whether it had anything to do with that strange blocked off part of Tsunayoshi's mind. However here with people watching them was not the best time for a mental investigation.

"Hey! There you are! Ah, you found Tsunayoshi." Shouts Takeshi, running down the path towards them. He quickly grabs Tsunayoshi's wrist and pulls him back the way he came- in the opposite direction from Hibari. "You're going to miss out on lunch Tsunayoshi. I've got loads of sushi for everyone. If you're not quick Ken's going to have eaten it all."

Mukuro and Hayato join them for lunch a noticeable time later, although neither will say what they've been doing during the missing time. Tsunayoshi sighs at their behaviour, guessing what they had been doing yet not really surprised, both were rather violent people after all. Although at this current moment in time, Tsunayoshi had no idea of how protective they could be- they'd had little contact with anyone other than the children of Mafia Row, who all liked Tsunayoshi.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went smoothly although Tsunayoshi was distracted by remembering the incident at lunch. The others were worried about him- he had gotten hugs from Haru, Kyoko and Enma along with threats towards any other attempts from Ken and Chikusa- and tried their best to cheer him up and make him forget about it. Eventually the day ended with the final bell, and they all left the classroom to return home. They were walking down the courtyard towards the exit gates when suddenly Tsunayoshi perked up. There was a light in his eyes and a huge smile on his face. In the distance, getting closer and louder was a very familiar and unique rumbling. Added to a specific horn being blasted, Tsunayoshi knew exactly what was going to happen in a moment.<p>

"Sorry everyone, I've got to go, my ride's here." He says, smiling at everyone.

The rest of the group say their goodbyes, although most wonder why Hayato, Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa weren't running off too considering they lived in the same house and had been dropped off in the same car this morning. At first the boys don't say anything, merely prompting the others to watch Tsunayoshi who was running towards the gates faster than they thought possible.

"Hey watch the road!" Some student shouts since it didn't seem like Tsunayoshi was going to stop. There are more shouts, this time from parents too, as Tsunayoshi jumps onto the metal fence at the edge of the road to protect people from cars and such. There are screams and shouts since there actually was a vehicle driving fast down the road and they were sure that the little boy was about to jump infront of it.

But before they can grab the dangerous child, he's disappeared, the motorbike sped past and already hundreds of yards down the road and turning the corner, leaving nothing but the loud rumbling of the engine behind. No one has a clue what's just happened, all they know is that there's no blood anywhere down the road at all, meaning the child hadn't gotten hit.

Tsunayoshi laughs and giggles as Skull drives onwards, ducking slightly as a helmet is pressed over his head. Tsunayoshi hadn't been scared one bit, they'd done more dangerous versions as part of Skull's gig before now. Unlike commonly thought Tsunayoshi didn't actually jump off the edge, he just let Skull pick him up. Plus that version was so much more fun than waiting for Skull to stop. Although according to the others Skull shouldn't stop. They didn't want anyone to know that Tsunayoshi was theirs until later on. None of the teachers would ask him which Family he was from and he wasn't to tell any students if asked. They said that they didn't want their reputation to affect how people treated him until after they got to know him. If Skull stopped then people would recognise him, both Mafioso and civilians.

Plus Tsunayoshi's exit wasn't even the most extravagant. Mafiosi's children were picked up in everything from limos to helicopters and everything in between. So if one Mafiosi's child wanted to be a bit daredevilish then no one really cared. Living on the edge was what the Mafia was about, it was good they learnt that young.

Once back at home the incident wasn't mentioned- Tsunayoshi didn't want to bring it up and the Arcobaleno weren't going to admit that they sat and watched from afar. However Luce does make Tsunayoshi's favourite dinner to make him feel better.

And so went Tsunayoshi's first eventful day at school.

* * *

><p><strong>It's a shame that Sky had such a horrible school life isn't it? Oh Well. Tsunayoshi's next encounter with bullies won't go like that I'm sure. I'll go into Mochida's past a little more some other time I think. In the manga it is mentioned in the future arc that Mochida gets involved with the Mafia somehow, so this won't be too far a stretch. <strong>

**See you next time**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 12 April 2013**


	92. And Fights Will Occur

Chapter 92

And Fights Will Occur

A week had passed since Tsunayoshi's first day at school and since then he had generally been left alone. In general it was because he was hardly without any of his friends anymore, they had decided on a part of the school they liked and claimed it as theirs, but also because he was less scared of anyone who did manage to pin him against a wall. It took a few attempts, as well as a few talks with the others on the unfathomable thing called Human Nature (Verde had confused him more than normal during that talk with all his psycho-babble, learning from books about the psyche was different from actually having personal experience with it all, so in the end he'd had quiet talks with Viper, Skull and Fon.) but eventually he learnt that not everyone was nice and people were mean without a good reason for it. It was just something he was going to have to deal with.

But there was also something else he was going to have to deal with…

The first example had been Kyoya. Everyone was scared of him, even if they pretended they weren't. People moved out of Kyoya's way, let him go where he wanted and never said anything offensive when he was in ear shot. He also had people coming to him and talking to him before running off again. And these people looked scary. They always had scowls on their faces, scratches and bruises and also an air of confidence. Even the fourth years gave Kyoya more respect than they should.

Since this was partly a Mafia school, respect towards one's elders was important. But more important was respect towards those more powerful than you. Which of course fit Kyoya's ideal perfectly. Strength was important in the Mafia, it meant you were going to live to steal another day. Strength meant security, power meant better jobs, better pay. Power meant more excitement and exhilaration. Lots of people tried to beat Kyoya, to prove they were stronger than him, but as far as everyone knew, in the three years he'd been here, he had never once lost. He had come in, a young first year and within the day had beaten the biggest badest bully around. By the end of the month he had beaten practically the whole population of male mafia students and even some of the more rowdy civilian students.

By the end of the first semester, Kyoya had cemented his ideals in the school and the Disciplinary Committee had been created.

Kyoya liked having power. He liked things to be nice and quiet, and following the rules usually meant that everything was quiet. There were the strong and there were the weak and the weak should obey the strong. That was the order of things. And if they didn't like that, then they should grow up and do something about it. Society as a whole was built upon order and rules, there was an order to everything, from King to peasant, from Boss to subordinate, from Leader to follower, from Carnivore to Herbivore. Kyoya had never liked having to follow rules, to have someone telling him what to do, so he had grown strong enough that he made the rules instead. Everyone was too scared of him to tell him otherwise.

He liked being on the top, it meant weaker people did what he told them to do, but also his position was never safe. There was always someone trying to take his place, always someone who rebelled against the rules and needed putting in their place again. And the best way to do that was to show them who was stronger. He loved the feeling of fighting a strong opponent, of showing his dominance over someone. It might be an unconscious rebellion against his strict parents, but he didn't care. Fighting made his blood run and his adrenaline pump and it was a feeling he loved. What was wrong with that?

He had even fought against the Dean once, although he had lost. The loss had been humiliating and extremely quick. All his hits had been dodged effortlessly and it was clear he was being played with. And no one played with Kyoya Hibari. It made him annoyed to be played with. He hadn't lost in a while, the last person he had lost against was Tsunayoshi when he had dared to smack Natsu (a mistake he's never made again). But Tsunayoshi lived with the pack of carnivores called the Arcobaleno and he hadn't won a fight against any of them. Even his parents showed deference to the Arcobaleno.

But since he had lost to the Dean he had to do what the Dean asked of him. And that was to keep the students following the rules of this place. It was to fight anyone who asked. It was to keep the town of Namimori safe. Well, he would have done that anyway, he was quite fond of this small little town. So keeping the students following the rules was what he did. He was still in a position of power and the Dean had never taken advantage of the fact he had won.

And the best part of this place being a Mafia school was that Mafioso didn't like rules. They rebelled against rules. And that meant he never got bored and there was always someone to fight. That's why he loved this school. The Disciplinary Committee was almost like its own little Mafia inside the school. Hibari was the leader and took in anyone he saw as strong. When the Mafioso children were beaten they followed him because that's how the Mafia was. It consisted of Third and Fourth Year students because Kyoya didn't like the thought of having anyone younger follow him, they were too noisy. And Kyoya liked his peace and quiet.

But that didn't matter anyway, because the second years were under someone else's control.

Mukuro's.

By the end of the first week, Mukuro had control of all the second year delinquents. He too liked being in control, especially after being let out of the Estraneo. In there he'd had no control whatsoever and he hated the feeling of being weak and helpless. But now he was free and he wasn't going to let anyone shackle him ever again. He was not going to let anyone tell him what to do if he could help it. With him in control, no one was going to harm his family either. People listened to him for once, did what he wanted, was scared of being hurt by him. They were the ones cowering in fear, not him. He had walked the Path of Hell of Heaven, he had control over Ghosts, Demons and Animals. No one was better than he was.

Being the new transfer student meant that many thought they were better than him. Those who were strong came to check him out, to see where his place in the hierarchy was. He had soon taught them a lesson. No one had beaten him, and he hadn't even needed his Paths or illusions to do so. It seemed that none of these children had been trained to be assassins yet like he, Ken, Chikusa and Chrome had. They had all lived soft cushy lives so far, knowing nothing of hardships like he had been put through. So of course he had won easily.

He had called the gang of students the Kokuyo Gang. He had attracted a few more loyal followers, like this one girl called M.M. who could do some rather interesting things with a clarinet. She was always clinging to him though, which was annoying. And she didn't let any other girls near him either. Which was fine by him he supposed. Ken and Chikusa were also part of this Gang, as was Tsunayoshi, although in name only. But they were the only first years that were part of his Gang and into his territory. Although he did make exceptions for when Tsunayoshi visited with his friends.

The first years though had a different leader.

Hayato.

He had managed to gather the first year delinquents under his command. Unless it was Tsunayoshi, Hayato had his guard always raised and was standoffish with anyone who tried to get close. He was defensive, rather rude and short tempered. He hated stupid people, found people who laughed too much (like a certain baseball-idiot) annoying and hated anyone older than him. He wasn't going to take any nonsense from anybody, and anyone who tried was dealt with quickly and harshly.

The first years had quickly learnt not to anger Hayato and either stayed out of his way or did what he said. Hayato wasn't afraid to use his bombs on anyone who he found annoying.

But using bombs meant sometimes destroying school property or creating a hole in the floor, which brought down Kyoya's wrath. Whilst fighting in this school was not against the rules, damaging the school was, the Dean had told him so (This was because Reborn didn't like it when Viper went mad over the amount of money being spent repairing the school instead of running it. The no damage rule got her off his back). And so fights broke out between the two different gangs. The first years were being rebellious and Kyoya was putting a stop to it.

There were also fights between Mukuro and Kyoya, mainly because Kyoya was trying to make Mukuro follow the rules, but Mukuro didn't want to follow the rules and hated the way that Kyoya was trying to make him do things. Plus, both liked fighting against each other, it passed the time and made them both stronger. So neither complained. And finally, there were fights between Mukuro's gang and Hayato's gang because Hayato hated anyone older than him- which Mukuro's gang all were. Plus Mukuro teased Hayato a lot and made him blow his short temper.

Reborn had watched all this happen from his office and could only smile at the results. This was surely a good thing for the school, it was all good fighting experience. And it could only make Hayato, Mukuro and Kyoya stronger. The only downside was that he'd had to hire another nurse to handle all the injuries since Shamal wasn't going to do it unless it was one of Tsunayoshi's friends. Or a girl. And Viper hadn't liked the fact they now had to pay out more money on the nurse and repairing damages. Reborn doubted that any of the children understood why they had fights, they most likely did it because they were rowdy children who liked to fight. It was good for Mafioso to not be scared of fighting and getting injured so he let the gangs happen, drawing in other children to the fights. It was all good experience that would help keep them alive in the future.

* * *

><p>So the thing that Tsunayoshi had to also put up with were the constant gang wars between the three. He didn't like the fact that his three friends were fighting a lot of the time, and that lots of people were getting hurt. But he couldn't deny that everyone was having fun. Everyone in the gangs enjoyed the fights over territory and such, seeing it all as a game. And Tsunayoshi was fine with violent games as long as no one got hurt too much. But there were times that his three friends took things too far and started fights in the wrong places or over silly little things that Tsunayoshi found stupid.<p>

Now was one such time. For some reason Hayato and Mukuro were fighting yet again. Tsunayoshi wasn't quite sure on the reason, it could have been anything from a pineapple comment to an octopus one, but the simple fact was that they were fighting in the corridor and no one could get past them to get outside for lunch. There was quite an audience gathered, people from all years used this exit and were enjoying the sight of a fight. People had already picked sides and were cheering the pair on whilst staying far enough back to avoid most of the smoke from the dynamites Hayato used- they were smaller than normal dynamites because he only had small hands and as such were less powerful than a normal dynamite.

But this fight was disturbing the peace and damaging property, so now Kyoya had gotten involved too.

"Haha, they're at it again," Laughs Takeshi, putting his hands behind his head as they stood at the back of the large crowd.

"Mou, Hayato's so violent desu~. And now we can't go for lunch either. Haru has this really nice piece of angel cake I was looking forwards to." Moans Haru, crossing her arms and tapping her foot against the floor. "Maybe Haru should sort them out!"

"What? That's stupid Haru, you'll only get hurt too!" Shoichi cries, standing as far back from the action as he could. Spanner was at his side, sitting down against a wall so he could continue drawing. They knew from experience that these fights could last ages, so there was no telling when they'd be able to get out. He might as well use his time productively.

"They're just a group of stupid monkeys drawing attention to themselves. This is why I hate kids." Growls Hana, arms folded as she glared at the fight going on.

"You should go and give them bananas then. Monkeys like bananas." Fran suggested as his solution to stop the fighting. Hana gave him an unamused look. "Ah, here comes the banana now." The group turn to see what Fran was talking about, half suspecting to see three walking bananas since that was what it had sounded like Fran meant.

Instead they only see Tsunayoshi and Enma. "Hmm, what are you guys still doing here? I would have thought you'd all be outside by now." Tsunayoshi asks. He and Enma had had to stay behind to talk to the teacher about a scene they'd created today. Enma had tripped, Tsunayoshi had gone to save him and also tripped and suddenly there was most of the girls in the class out of their seats offering plasters and cooing over them as if they'd just broken their legs or something. It had taken the teacher ten minutes to get the girls to go and sit back down again.

"Seems like there's another fight. It's a good thing Adel's not here or else she'd get involved too." Enma whispers, looking around in case she was nearby. Her and Hibari had lots of fights too.

"Again?" sighs Tsunayoshi. "They are almost as bad as Reborn and Colonnello." He mutters under his breath as he walks forwards. "Excuse me, sorry, can I get through? Ah, yeah, sorry, excuse me, pardon me, ah thank you." He squirms his way through the crowd to get to the front lines and can finally see the fight for himself. It's hard to hear anything since everyone around him was cheering the three fighting boys on, fists in the air as they shouted threats and encouragements.

"Kyoya, Mukuro, Hayato, stop." Tsunayoshi says, but his voice is lost under the cheering. He tries a few more times but nothing seems to be working. Sighing, he starts to walk forwards, getting closer to the fight in hopes that they'd notice him. They don't, too focused on fighting each other. The crowd behind him grow quieter slightly, wondering what the cute, fluffy, small boy who surely couldn't harm a fly was going to do.

Hayato comes flying towards him, having been smacked backwards by a tonfa. Tsunayoshi catches him whilst Hayato is in mid-air and places him back on the floor. Hayato gets back up ready to give Kyoya a lesson, his jaw clenched in anger.

"Hayato sit."

Hayato sat.

He would know that voice anywhere, even if he hadn't noticed that it was Tsunayoshi-sama who had just grabbed him. He couldn't defy that voice. If Tsunayoshi-sama wanted him to sit then he'd do it in a heartbeat, so he had immediately sat down cross-legged in the middle of the floor exactly where he had been standing, not caring that it was dirty because of the dust his dynamites had created. He looks up and sees that it really was Tsunayoshi-sama who had just saved him from flying into the crowd behind them. He didn't look happy though, especially not with that tone of voice, so Hayato was quiet too. His sudden deference caused a stir among the crowd watching, not everyone was in their class after all so very few knew about his loyalty to Tsunayoshi.

Tsunayoshi then took a few more steps forwards. "Mukuro, Kyoya, stop please." He said, his voice a little louder than before since the crowd behind weren't cheering as loudly; things were different this time, the small boy had never interfered before so they were interested to see how things would turn out. But still the pair war on. Tsunayoshi sighs once more, he'd have to get involved personally.

The crowd gasp as suddenly the small boy disappears, only to reappear between the fighting pair, one hand holding back a tonfa, the other holding back a trident. "Both of you stop now." There are growls from both sides and more pressure placed against the weapons, trying to get Tsunayoshi to back off.

"Hey idiots, Tsunayoshi-sama told you to stop!" Hayato shouts, standing back up again to go and smack the pair for disobeying Tsunayoshi-sama.

"Stop! or else I'll use The Bag on you all." Tsunayoshi threatens. He had taken Luce's lead with discipline- he didn't know any other way- and kept on him small embarrassing accessories that made his friends back down from fights. The three fighters pause for a moment, eyes widening slightly at the threat. All three had their pride and didn't want any fluffy accessories to be put on them.

The crowd are silent, stunned by Tsunayoshi's threat. They are sure that the fight is about to start again, no one is scared of a bag and the boy didn't even have a bag on him. But jaws drop as the three most violent boys in the school all take a step backwards and hide their weapons.

"Good~" Tsunayoshi says, smiling brightly at them all, his sudden cold temper nowhere to be seen. "Now we can go eat lunch!" He wraps his arms around the nearest arm of Mukuro and Kyoya before pulling them towards the door, Hayato following like a puppy behind.

Kyoya smacks Tsunayoshi on the head with a tonfa for such an herbivore-like display. "Ouch Kyoya, that's mean." Tsunayoshi whines in a cute voice.

"Hey, what are you doing to Tsunayoshi-sama!" Hayato shouts.

"Kufufu~ You should come closer this way Tsunayoshi, away from that brute." Mukuro chuckles, pulling on Tsunayoshi's arm.

The crowd watching are sure that another fight is about to start, but they never get to see since the quartet walk around the doors and out of sight.

"Did you see that?"

"He made those three stop. Those three!"

"I didn't think the Discipline Committee Leader listened to anyone."

"The same with Hayato, he hates being told what to do."

"He didn't even use force!"

"Any idea who he is?"

"No, although they called him Tsunayoshi."

"Hayato even added sama on the end."

"He always does that you know. I'm in class with them both. Hayato's purely devoted to Tsunayoshi."

"Wait, isn't he that kid who's always jumping off the school gates onto that motorcycle?"

The crowd was abuzz with questions and speculations about what had just taken place. No one had thought that such a small boy could do those things. All three of the fighters were notorious in the school. The talking went on for a little while before the crowd dispersed. But everyone took something away from the fight, a single thought-

Tsunayoshi was someone to get close to. If he could control those three people when who knew what else he could do. It was important to stay on his good side. And the good side of which ever Family he belonged to- no one knew that either. In fact, no one knew what Family any of those four belonged to.

But whoever he was, Tsunayoshi was an ally they needed to have.

* * *

><p><strong>There are credits to a few people in this chapter, I'll add them later when I find the names I need.<strong>

**And any ideas on what to name Hayato's gang?**

**I hope you all liked it and see you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 14 April 2013 **


	93. But as Long as Your Friends are There

Chapter 93

But as Long as Your Friends are There

**I think I had better warn you all that updates are going to be a little erratic from now on. I'm no longer in a routine and therefore I'm all over the place. I don't think I'll stop for the whole summer holidays like I did last year, but updates may no longer always be on Thursdays and Sundays. I'm busy with work which means that I have to go to bed earlier than usual or else I'm tired all day. Since I usually write at night and well into the morning, this cuts into my writing time. **

**This chapter is so late because of how many blocks I hit. If I didn't love my laptop so much I would have thrown it across the room in frustration. A lot of thanks to Erephen for her help in getting over those blocks! **

**Although I suppose it balances out since this chapter is longer than usual.**

* * *

><p><strong>Bang!<strong>

"Now when you mix red paint and blue paint-"

**Thump!**

"You get purple paint."

**Stomp!**

"So if everyone wants to give that a go and paint it on-"

**Bang!**

"The last spot on the circle. After that you're free to leave."

Tsunayoshi had to commend the teacher for continuing on despite the banging and thumping coming from upstairs. None of the class had any clue what was happening up there but it happened rather frequently. Although Tsunayoshi only saw a Vindice jump past the window on the odd occasion these days.

He looks at the colour wheel before him and thinks and thinks. There was a problem you see, both Viper and Skull were purple, but there was only room for one type of purple. He supposed that he'd just have to split it in half like he had done for the blue as well. For that one he had done a light blue for Colonnello and a dark blue for Lal. So he got to work making a red purple for Skull and a blue purple for Viper before painting it onto his piece of paper. Yeah! That looked good. His colour wheel covered everyone, from Bermuda's black in the middle to Reborn's yellow as one of the insides and Luce's orange in one of the outside parts. Perfect!

He put his piece by the window to dry off before washing his hands and then taking the apron off. After that he collected his bag and waited outside for all his friends to finish too. It wasn't long before everyone had finished.

"Ah! Tsunayoshi! Where are you going?" Asks Shoichi, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him back from a stair case.

"Hmm, I'm going to see some of my friends and ask them if they know who keeps on creating all that noise." Tsunayoshi replies, looking at Shoichi innocently and with confusion.

"But we're not allowed up there!" The mechanic cries, looking in fear up the staircase. "All the big kids are up there. They're really scary!"

"But Ryohei-nii is up there."

"Julie, Koyo, Rauji, Kaoru and Shittopi-chan are up there, and Adel is another floor up."

"Byakuran and Daisy are up there too."

Okay, so maybe that list didn't help, only proving that some scary big kids were up there, but Tsunayoshi was determined to go anyway, they were all his friends.

"There's no need to be scared of any of them." Hayato chimes in, although he didn't know any of the names mentioned on a personal basis apart from the odd Mafia Row wide party. Plus, he'd rather be going upstairs than downstairs. The lower floors belonged to the 4th and 5th years, which sadly included his sister. He'd be very grateful not to meet her. Luckily he hadn't so far.

"No one said we couldn't go up there." Kyoko adds, smiling encouragingly at the worried mechanic.

"So let's go then desu~ All that noise is annoying Haru." The girl explains with a stomp of her foot.

Tsuna takes Shoichi's hand before running up the steps.

"But you don't realise that any first years coming here get beaten up!" Shoichi whines, tugging against Tsunayoshi.

"Maa maa, I'm sure it'll be alright. I bet they say that just to scare us." Smiles Takeshi, a hand against Shoichi's back pushing him upwards.

When they finally get upstairs, it's to find the second years also on lunch break, milling around or walking between classrooms to find friends to eat lunch with.

"Ne, Shoichi, do you think that it would be better to go with a square design here or a curved one?" Spanner asks, tapping his best friend on the shoulder before pointing to a drawing he was working on. Tsuna smiles, seeing that Spanner was trying to distract Shoichi from his fear.

"Oh. My. God. I don't believe it." Tsunayoshi looks over at Hayato, seeing the boy with an open-mouthed disbelieving look. Tsunayoshi looks down the corridor but doesn't spot anything unusual. But before he can ask Hayato what's wrong, the bomber's expression suddenly changes into that of an excited five year old, jumping up and down whilst flapping his hands. He turns excitedly to Tsunayoshi, eyes bright with a huge grin on his face. "Tsunayoshi-sama look! It's a UMA! There's a UMA at this school!"

A UMA? Where? Tsunayoshi takes another look down the corridor, expecting to see an alien or Big Foot or Nessie or something. But all he sees are normal students. Maybe one was in disguise and Hayato had managed to detect it anyway? There had to be something there or else Hayato wouldn't look like Luce does after dressing Tsunayoshi up in her latest outfit.

A shadow is cast over them as someone jumps over their heads and lands on one of their number.

"Ahh! Shittopi-chan!" Enma cries, falling to the floor from the force of the hug.

"Enma~" She sings, "You came to see us!" She bounces up and down, her multi-coloured hair bouncing too. "And you brought Tsunayoshi along too." She turns and bounces- yes bounces, not skipped or ran but bounced- over to him before leaping on him too. Tsunayoshi laughs and gives her a hug, not caring that she's pushed him to the floor too. Arrivals at the Shimon house usually ended up in a dog-pile.

"No! The UMA's attacking Tsunayoshi-sama! She's going to take him for experimentation at her home planet!" Hayato cried, trying to pull her off of Tsunayoshi.

"Don't be so stupid byon." Ken scoffs, "It's obviously a weird girl, not a UMA. Are you blind or something?"

Tsunayoshi stands as soon as Shittopi-chan lets him. "Everyone, this is my friend and Enma's sister, Shitt P., although she prefers Shittopi-chan."

"Wow what an individual style desu~. So unique!" Haru cheers. Shittopi-chan looks over and smiles broadly, glad that someone likes her choice in fashion.

"So are you really an UMA like Hayato says P-san?" Asks Takeshi, smiling with a silly grin. He didn't know that the second years played dress-up! Or maybe they were playing charades, although he didn't have a clue which character she was supposed to be. Or maybe it was part of the drama class?

Shittopi rolled her head, looking from the girls over to the boy who had just spoken. Hmm. She opens her mouth and…

"Ah! It-it's Morse code!" Hayato jumps up and starts to search for his notebook to note down the sounds. He'll crack the message of the UMA in no time!

Only when the sounds became really quiet did he realize that his prized specimen wandered off... somewhere.

"Wait, come back please!" Hayato shouts, running off after her, he couldn't let the first UMA he had met just run away! "It that a distress call? Are you asking for backup? Are even more UMA's going to appear?!"

"Ooh, he said please, that's unusual." Comments Spanner, having watched the scene whilst Shoichi was busy drawing new additions to his robot.

"Hoooh, so even in this world he's interested in space aliens. Some things never change."

Everyone but three jumped when a voice sounded from behind them. When had someone gotten there?

_"I feel sorry for those first years if Byakuran's gotten to them."_

_"They'll be gone in no time, scared out of their wits no doubt."_

_"Daisy's the only one who isn't ripped to shreds by his tongue."_

The second years felt sorry for the first years who the white haired devil had decided to prey upon.

"Ah! Byaku-chan!" Tsunayoshi sings, being one of the few people who hadn't jumped at his arrival. He weaves through the crowd and takes the offered marshmallow before giving Byakuran a hug. "I wondered where you'd be. You always seem to find me before I can find you." Byakuran always won games of hide and seek at his house.

"Hmmmmm, well that's because I know you better than you might think," Byakuran said with a sly smile. Tsunayoshi wanted to shiver, there was more to that remark than met the eye. Byakuran then wanders over to his mechanics, putting an arm over each of their shoulders. "Now if these two go missing for more than an hour, I always know where to find them. We just have to check inside all their robots. Shoichi had an extended stay in one just this weekend." He chuckles as Shoichi splutters and turns red.

"You don't have to tell them that!" He demanded, hitting Byakuran lightly with the book of paper he was drawing on.

"It's okay, Bubu doesn't like being in the dark either." Daisy consoles, moving his bunny rabbit to pat Shoichi's shoulder.

"I am not scared of the dark!" Shoichi protested whilst the group around him laughed.

_"Is that… an actual smile on the Devil's face?"_

_"What, Byakuran, smiling like a normal person… wait he is!"_

_"Oh, it's that boy again, you know, the one who got the three gang leaders to stop fighting with just a few words."_

_"What, that kid? No way, he looks far too docile for that to be true."_

_"No, no, I was there, I saw it."_

_"Really? Then maybe we should do talk to him. No one knows which Family he's with right? Papa would be proud if we got such a strong person in our Famiglia."_

The chatting boys nodded and were about to step over and join in the conversation. They froze in their tracks however at the look and smile Byakuran was giving them. Err, maybe now was not the best time for a chat… They quickly hightailed it out of there before Byakuran could do worse.

* * *

><p>"Kufufu, well that would be no trouble for someone of my abilities." Mukuro laughs, smirking as he leant forwards.<p>

"Well that's fine with me, _très bien_." The girl smiles, resting her hand on Mukuro's arm whilst giving a malicious smile to the girls across the classroom. "I can keep _ces filles _away from you." Mukuro puts his hands around her waist before pulling her closer. She just smiles, pretending to be flustered to make the girls across the room even more jealous. After all, her protection detail only covered female obstacles, and despite how pretty the knife that had just flown across the room was, it's owner was certainly not a girl.

"M.M. why don't you take a seat, I'm sure this'll be great entertainment." Mukuro says quietly, releasing her before stepping forwards around a desk, eyes looking around the room for the source of the attack.

Mukuro barely had a moment to dodge the next attack, one coming from… the window?

"The Prince is bored, therefore he commands that the pineapple magician entertains him." Belphegor explains, grinning as always. He was comfortably sat on the window ledge, letting the sun warm his back. He didn't care that this was the second floor, such a measly height would never matter to a Varia member.

"Kufufufu, what an annoying little bug that has appeared." Mukuro smiles, not letting his annoyance at the pineapple comment show. He extends his hand, the trident appearing softly into reality before spinning it and preparing to tap it against the ground. His classmates, who had already started to edge towards the exits at the Prince's arrival, all quickly made a mad dash for the door the moment the trident appeared. Even after a two weeks with the illusionist, they all knew not to ever mention that particular fruit. And now the trident was about to be tapped on the floor. They might have stayed otherwise, a normal fight between the two was interesting to watch for those that could stomach bloody violence, but hardly anyone would stay and watch when his 'magic' was involved. The last time they had stayed when the 'magic' had come out, the entire class had had to go home immediately, crying endlessly and refused to show for class the next day.

Within ten seconds, hardly anyone was left in the classroom, only the most courageous had remained. M.M. draped herself over one of the empty desks, out of the way and ready to watch. Her darling Mukuro would win of course.

"Ushishishishi, the peasant dares to be cheeky? Well, the Prince will have to rectify this foul misdeed and teach the peasant to respect his betters." On the last word the third year leaped from the window ledge, knives glinting in the sun. Over tables and chairs he jumped, not caring if they turned or flipped, someone else could clean the mess up later.

And as the first clash of trident against knife resounded, both had the same thought on their mind. '_It's time to teach this brat a lesson.'_

* * *

><p>The whole group look confused when suddenly a whole classroom emptied in a matter of moments. All the students had looks of fear on their faces and were trying to get down the stairs and away from the classroom as quickly as possible.<p>

"What's happening? Is something wrong?" Tsunayoshi asks, looking at the chaos around them.

"Haahaa, maybe it's a race to get the best spot on the school field? It is rather sunny today." Supposes Takeshi, laughing even as he took a step to stand infront of the girls so they weren't hurt.

"Che, look at them, like a pack of rabid monkeys the lot of them. And they're supposed to be older than us." Hana scoffed, arms folded across her chest. Stupid kids.

"Oh, well if they are just monkeys then you go in there and sort them out." Mochida hisses, glaring angrily at the group. He was not staying in the same room as that annoyed magician, he was already on the lunatic's bad side for bullying the girly brat he liked so much. Tsunayoshi glared at the bully, he didn't like the way he was talking to Hana. The boy turned away and left with his other friends, trotting down the stairway. Tsunayoshi immediately released a breath and suppressed a shiver. He could always fight back against Mochida when the others were around but the boy still scared him.

**Thump! Bang! Crash!**

Tsunayoshi's eyes widened before he made his way to the front of their group. Whatever was happening in that classroom must be the cause of those noises! Now he could find out who it was and ask them to stop.

"Ah, Tsunayoshi-dono, thou doth not want to venture into that room. A duel is occurring inside and I dost not want thee to be harmed by accident." Tsunayoshi smiles when he saw Basil walking their way.

"There's a fight going on in there?" Tsunayoshi asked, tilting his head. Although he supposed that nothing else made noises like that. He wondered who could be fighting so often.

"There is indeed Tsunayoshi-dono." Basil agrees, nodding sagely. "That is why I dost believe it is in thy best interest to descend back to the ground floor."

"Ne, overly cute one, is he a time traveller? Isn't it a few hundred years too late for that language?" Asks Fran, peering out from behind Tsunayoshi.

"I dost believe thou are confused." Basil said with a smile. "I am not a time traveller, this was merely the way my Master taught me to talk. I care not to change it now."

"Um excuse me, we need a translator over here!" Fran said, raising his hand in the air and waving whilst looking around the corridor.

Basil and Tsunayoshi giggle. "Thou art a comical one." Basil says once he finishes laughing. He offers his hand to Fran. "My name is Basil. How may I address thee?"

Fran lets go of Tsunayoshi's shoulders from where he had been leaning and instead takes a step to the side. "My name is Fran, lost time traveller."

"Well, it hast been very nice meeting thou Fran. However I do believe that thee and thine should leave before the battle can progress outside the classroom walls." Basil took a look at the classroom in question, wincing at the sound of a rather large crash.

"Don't worry Basil, we'll be careful. I'm looking for more of my friends." Tsunayoshi explains, smiling reassuringly at the older male.

"But thy parents would not be happy if harm did come to thee Tsunayoshi-dono." Basil says in worry. He feared what the Arcobaleno would do if Tsunayoshi got seriously harmed. It was one thing to be bullied, it was another to get in the middle of a fight that didn't concern him. But he could see the look in Tsunayoshi's eye, it was one that Lal and Colonnello often got. So he sighed. "At least allow me to accompany thee Tsunayoshi-dono."

Tsunayoshi beams brightly at Basil for finally allowing them to go, before turning towards the door. He was going to tell these naughty people off for creating such a ruckus.

"Yeah, go on, get him!"

"That was pathetic. I could do better, in the end!"

Enma's eyes widened before he put his head in his hand. His family were enjoying the fight and cheering them on. What was he going to do with them? Although he was relieved that they were not the perpetrators to begin with. Hearing the voices he recognised, Tsunayoshi tilted his head slightly whilst he thought, before shrugging and opening the door anyway.

"HEEEYYY! KYOKO DON'T GO IN THERE IT'S DANGEROUS!" The loudness made everyone wince and cover their ears. Ryohei thundered down the corridor having been in a different classroom earlier on. He skidded to a stop next to the girls and Takeshi, a frown on his face. "It's extremely not safe for a girl like you Kyoko. Those are two extreme fighters who extremely don't care who they hurt. I don't want you getting hurt by accident."

Kyoko looked at her brother's face and then towards the door where all the noise was coming from. "Okay then Onii-san. We'll leave." She then turns to Haru. "I'm sure that Tsunayoshi has this covered. Why don't we go and start eating lunch. I've got this raspberry bavarois I want you to try."

"Oh, is it the one from Marie's shop? I've always wanted to try that one." Haru says excitedly.

"Hmm, Miss Marie does make good desserts." Takeshi agrees- his dad employed Miss Marie so he knew who they were talking about. "Did you want me to come with you or are you going to be okay?"

"Nah, we'll be fine desu! Nothing can get between Haru and her dessert!" She proclaims, hands on hips defiantly. "Isn't that right Hana?"

"Urgh, anything to get away from these violent monkeys." She mutters, already turning away and walking towards the stairs.

"We'll see you later. Bye Bye desu~" Haru waves, following Hana and Kyoko down the stairs.

Tsunayoshi felt better now that the girls were safe, although he didn't doubt that everyone here could protect them. So finally he opens the door and steps inside. The first thing he sees is the rest of the Shimon Famiglia sitting in the chairs occupying the corner closest to the door, watching the fight enthusiastically. A few chairs away from them near the door at the front of the classroom was the girl that Tsunayoshi didn't really know yet- M.M. He'd seen her when Mukuro had visited them in the playground, she was always clinging to his arm. Other than that, he only knew her from stories Mukuro told.

"Kick his ass Mukuro!" Ken howls, jumping onto a vacated desk to get a good view. Chikusa followed, before leaning against a wall nearby to watch too.

"Oh dear, Kyoya isn't going to like the state of this classroom." Tsunayoshi murmured, looking at the mess it had become.

"It might be interesting to have the lesson whilst looking at the ceiling instead of the board." Fran adds in, sitting on one of the upturned desks.

Hearing the new voices talking about the state of the room, both fighters pause, turning to look at the newcomers.

"Ah Kitty!" Belphegor shouts, flipping over Mukuro acrobatically before jumping over the mess of desks with graceful ease and coming to a stop before him.

"Good Afternoon your Majesty." Tsunayoshi says, giving Belphegor a bow.

"Ah, the Kitty came to be by the Prince's side. Good, very good." He swept Tsunayoshi up in a hug, the little boy's feet leaving the ground, before rubbing his cheek against Tsunayoshi's like one would do with a fluffy kitten.

Illusionary vines lift Tsunayoshi out of the Varia member's grasp and over to Mukuro's side, depositing him into Mukuro's princess-style hold. "Kufufufu~ You're delusional, maybe you've gotten smacked one too many times on a mission. Especially if you believe that Tsunayoshi is here for you. My dearest Tsunayoshi is obviously here to support me." Mukuro smirked, tightening his hold on the boy.

"Ushishishi~ No way. The pineapple magician must have fallen for his own petty tricks. The Prince's Kitty is here for the Prince." Belphegor countered, grinning madly as he slowly advanced on the pair.

"What do you mean petty trick?" Mukuro growled. He was an excellent illusionist thank you very much.

"Oh, did the Prince touch a nerve?" Bel asked condescendingly. "You are forgetting that the Prince had Mammon all to himself for far longer than you have. Your illusions are like smoke and mirrors compared to hers." He scoffs, looking away in disgust.

"Oya Oya, you poor misguided soul. You believe you still have her? A bond between student and teacher is far stronger than that of co-workers," Mukuro sneers, an eyebrow raised.

"Wait a second I'm confused." Takeshi whispered loudly to the crowd watching. "Are they fighting over Tsunayoshi or Mammon?"

"They were fighting about hair styles earlier on." Comments Rauji.

"Before that all they were doing was laughing. That was creepy." Adds in Kaoru, shivering slightly.

"One fight I never got was the one about Blood Oranges and Pineapples. Why fight over fruit, in the end?" wonders Koyo, resting his chin on his hand.

Tsunayoshi manages to wiggle out of Mukuro's hold, especially now that he wasn't the topic of the fight and calmly walked back over to his friends. Belphegor comes in with another attack, throwing a flurry of knives in quick succession straight at Mukuro as he jumps over the last desk between them. Spinning his trident, Mukuro defends himself and the knives fall to the floor. He runs forwards, trident raised to strike downwards at the menace. Running to the side, Belphegor dodges the attack and comes in for one of his own, sending ten knives all at once towards the lowly magician. As Mukuro defends himself once more, Bel runs forwards straight towards Mukuro, coming in far too close for Mukuro to manoeuvre the trident easily. However he is close enough to watch the Kanji roll and change into the Path of Beasts, two hounds appearing out of the thick mist before biting at the prince's leg.

The others watch the fight, wondering whether they should interfere or not. Half of them were too busy watching and enjoying the fight and the other half were too scared to move.

Belphegor grabs one of the hounds before walking towards the window and dropping the dog out of the window. It disappears in a cloud of mist before it can hit the ground. The other hound lunges at Belphegor, but the Prince just grins, giving the dog a crazy glare from under his bangs.

"Sit."

The dog, scared of the glare it caught a glimpse of, immediately sits. Mukuro clicks his tongue before waving a hand and the dog disappears. The Kanji changes again, and Mukuro taps the trident on the ground, vines bursting out of the floor by his feet and chasing after the annoying Varia member. Belphegor grins once more, giggling quietly before jumping from desk to desk towards the back of the room.

"Ne, Kitty, why did you seek the Prince out?" Bel asks, his voice steady and even, not sounding at all like he had been fighting for the past twenty minutes.

"I wanted to introduce all my friends to each other." Tsunayoshi replies, more than used to having a conversation whilst someone was sparing. It was practically the only way to talk to a Varia member, plus some of the Arcobaleno sparred often to keep their skills from getting rusty. "And I really wanted to introduce them to you Big bro Bel."

"Ushishi, impertinent child." Bel laughs, bopping Tsunayoshi on the head as he jumped past. "You didn't call me Majesty. Oh well, the Prince will allow that name too because he likes it." He jumps onto a line of cupboards at the back of the class, walking along it whilst not stepping on anything. "You have the Prince's permission to make introductions. They can forego the bowing just this once."

So Tsunayoshi set about introducing each of his friends to Belphegor, telling the Prince a little about each of them as he did so. The Varia member just kept on walking around the class, leaping out of the way of the vines that kept on diving towards him. Since he was talking to Tsunayoshi he stayed down that end of the class, away from Mukuro's trident. Plus he'd already thrown some knives earlier on to pin Mukuro's trousers to the floor. Mukuro didn't want to rip the trousers since that would anger Luce. And angering Luce was a big no-no.

"And finally we have Shoichi and Spanner. Verde teaches them lots of things, but they are the best at mechanical stuff. They design robots for games and such. Oh, and they also design lots of tools to do chores with." It was amazing what the pair had designed to get out of household chores.

"Ushishi~ The Prince could do with some of that. Mother is always nagging about clean rooms." Bel comments, his grin twitching. Tsunayoshi burst out in full on laughter, knowing that the mother being referred to was actually Squalo not Lussuria. Plus, Bel's room was a tip, clothes everywhere, knives like darts on pictures pinned to the walls. In fact the only clean place in the prince's room was the bed and the bedside table, and that was only because the bedside table was reserved for his 'crown'.

So taking an interest in these rather innocent looking children, Belphegor cut the two vines chasing him around the room to ribbons before leaping over the heads of the Shimon family, rolling over the desk Takeshi was sitting at and ends up lying on his stomach, head propped up on a hand, grinning as innocently a possible-for him at least. After all, the pair, the red head especially, looked rather fragile. But the robot they had drawn looks anything but.

"Oooh~ The Prince likes this. What's it for?" He asks sweetly.

"Well it's a design for a robot for one of the war games we play." Shoichi answers, a blush on his face. They didn't play with dolls like most people thought, but with painted models. Since normal soldiers were boring, they'd created their own, including some robots. And being only children, they let their imagination run away, often influenced by movies the others watched. "It can fly, and it's got rockets coming out of it's back, and a laser in it's chest and really really thick armour."

"We reckon it could take out an army by itself." Spanner adds in. "Our next design would be a robot to fight this one so both sides are balanced."

"Maybe this one should have a pilot and maybe be shaped like a lion? We could call it Liger Zero Schneider!" wonders Shoichi, looking at Spanner for his opinion. Spanner shrugs his shoulders, rips the top page off and places it on the desk before starting to draw the new robot.

Belphegor picks up the discarded piece of paper and takes a look at the humanoid robot. Wow, if only this could be created in real life. Imagine how strong the Varia would be then! But these two were rather interesting little mechanical geniuses. He's have to keep an eye on them, especially if Verde was the one teaching them. Belphegor had tried a few times to break into Verde's lab to steal some of his secrets but hadn't managed to even get past the Arcobaleno's wall yet.

"Hoooh, we're going to have to create new rules for Choice if you keep on making stronger fighters." Byakuran comments, leaning over Shoichi's shoulder to watch the drawing take place. Choice was the name of their little war game because the choices made were so important. One single choice would win or lose the battle.

"Kufufufu~ I think you've forgotten someone." Mukuro smirks, having freed himself from the knives and was now standing over Belphegor, trident poised to spear the arrogant prince through. The Varia member though was unphased, instead rolling over onto his back and throwing a handful of knives at the same time, one slicing a line across Mukuro's cheek.

"That reminds me, does anyone know why Belphegor came to see Mukuro in the first place?" Tsunayoshi asks, watching the pair start their battle once more.

"Hmhmm, why that's easy Tsu-chan. Bel is bored in his classes so he likes to leave and find things to do. Annoying Mukuro is one of those things." Byakuran explains, pushing Spanner to the side by a few inches so a knife slides on past him. Spanner was too absorbed in his drawing to really care.

"TSUNAYOSHI-SAMA! You've got to catch her!" comes a shout from outside, in the corridor. Those not watching the fight turn their heads to look in the direction of the door and the corridor, only to see Shittopi-chan fly in, bouncing over a few desks before sitting infront of Enma.

"Hey Shittopi-chan. Having fun with Hayato?" Tsunayoshi asks, they had been gone for a while after all.

"Yeah, he's rather funny to listen to." She laughs, turning towards the door in time to watch the huffing and panting Hayato lean against the door, a smile on his face.

"As expected of Tsunayoshi-sama, you've caught her. I swear that I'll figure out her code soon." Hayato pants, catching his breath after the long run- that UMA could move _fast_.

"Why do you want to catch her so bad Hayato?" Asks Takeshi, placing a hand on Hayato's back to guide him to a seat. Hayato's too tired to brush the annoying baseball-nut off.

"Because… I thought that it would be good for me and the Professor to examine her and find out what type of UMA she was." Explains Hayato, still keeping an eye on the UMA incase she tried to run away again.

"S-so you and Verde can do what?!" Squeaks Tsunayoshi, eyes wide.

"Nooo! You can't give us to Verde!" Enma continues in a very scared voice, immediately hiding behind Rauji to defend himself whilst quivering like a scared kitten. "Verde already wants to experiment on us because of our unique pupils and irises, not to mention the weird Flames that run through our bloodline. He hasn't so far because Cozarto won't let him."

"Yes Hayato. Shittopi-chan is our friend, you can't do that to her." Tsunayoshi demands.

Hayato looks down. "Okay Tsunayoshi-sama. But I will crack her communication code!"

The group laugh at Hayato's enthusiasm, the second years and Tsunayoshi already knowing how to 'crack the code'. Obviously Hayato hadn't been listening to Tsunayoshi properly. But the laughter dies down as two very annoyed auras smother the room.

"For destroying a classroom,"

"And disturbing the peace,"

"You shall all be liquefied respectfully.

"You will all be bitten to death."

…

…

…

Uh-oh.

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><p><strong>Lots of foreshadowing in this chapter too, I wonder how many you can spot? In this fic I want the family circles to be broken down a little bit, hence why some of these conversations are between unusual pairs. Look forwards to the next two chapters, they are one of the key plot points of this arc!<strong>

**See you next time!**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 22 April 2013**


	94. And Your Family Too

Chapter 94

And Your Family Too.

**I'm sorry this took so long, but my life suddenly got busy. There's a lot of stuff going on at work at the moment, a change of ownership, people leaving, so I've been working all day every day (which makes for around a 44 hour week minimum) and only getting Sundays off for the past 5 weeks (and I dare you to try and run a restaurant with only 3/4 people). I've been far too tired to do anything, had a mini-break down and absolutely no motivation to write whatsoever, nor really the time to write anything. I have to continue working full time for a little longer, so I can't say when the next update will be I'm afraid. **

**So once again, apologies for the long wait, but this chapter is a longer one than usual. **

**Lots of thanks to **_**Erephen**_** for help with the Varia, her emotional support and prompts to finally get me to write once more. **

**Credit to **_Kagehana. Tsukio_** ****and **_**ForeverBlackSun**_** for how Enma and Tsunayoshi stop the fighting going on~**

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><p>How they survived a fight with Kyoya and Adelheid, Tsunayoshi didn't know. Like he'd known, they didn't like the state of the classroom because of Belphegor and Mukuro's fight and had immediately gotten around to disciplining and liquidating everyone in the room. Even those who hadn't been fighting were disciplined, 'because they didn't stop the fight' apparently. Belphegor took the opportunity during the fight to slip the robot design into his jacket, leaving a pile of ripped paper in its place so he could blame losing it on the fighting going on instead.<p>

Eventually the fight was stopped through the amazing power of puppy eyes. When their stomachs rumbled, Tsunayoshi and Enma were reminded that it was in fact lunchtime and they hadn't eaten yet. Kyoya and Adelheid didn't seem like they were going to stop disciplining and liquidating any time soon, so drastic measures needed to be taken.

"Adel! Adelheid! Adelheid!..." Enma shouted (or at least, his version of shouting) over the noise of the fights. But her fan didn't stop swinging as she attempted to smack Mukuro for being one of the main causes for the state of the classroom.

"Big Sis Adel!" Enma tries again, this time running towards her and daring to grab her arm. If it was anyone other than Enma- her family included, especially if it was Julie- who had grabbed her arm they would have immediately been respectfully disciplined.

So when she turns and finds it's Enma, she just smiles and quite calmly asks, "What's the matter Enma?"

"Adel, it's lunch time and I'm hungry, can we stop fighting and go eat lunch now?" He asks, looking down sheepishly. When he feels her hesitate- another desk had just been smashed- he tugs on her arm and looks up at her with gleaming red puppy eyes. The girl nods, closing her fan with a loud snap.

"Shimon!" She shouts over the ruckus, "It's time to leave." The members of the Shimon family immediately stop and scramble out of the room, the prospect of lunch overriding their excitement for the battle. That and the fact that Adel was angry when mad and they didn't want fan-prints on their cheeks for the rest of the day.

Across the room a similar scene was happening. After watching Enma run off towards Adelheid, Tsunayoshi turned his attention to Kyoya, who seemed to be having a lot of fun fighting with Bel and Mukuro. But he was hungry too, and if there was one thing Luce had pressed into his head, it was that people should always eat together (Why else would all the Arcobaleno eat together at every meal? Because they liked each other _that _ much?). And whilst everyone here wasn't his family like the Arcobaleno were, they were still all friends and he wanted them to eat together.

So he walks across the room, copying the way Luce got when she wanted things done, aka a sweet smile, scary aura and hard to argue against logic.

"Kyoya," Tsunayoshi starts, smiling sweetly at the fighters. "It's lunch time right now and I believe it's rather undisciplined for us to not eat the lunch boxes our families tried so hard to make for us. So we should stop this fighting and go eat lunch. Don't you agree?"

Kyoya paused- it was very undisciplined to not eat the food one's mother, or in some cases father, had prepared- but still this class room was such a mess that it was annoying him to no end.

"Please, Kyoya," Tsunayoshi whines, pulling out the puppy eyes that even worked on the Arcobaleno, "I'm really hungry but I want to eat with everyone."

All three fighters stopped, finding the sight far too cute to resist, and lowered their weapons. With a grunt Kyoya left, striding out of the classroom. With both Disciplinarians out of the room and the two main fighters subdued, everything calmed down and they could finally go to lunch. The classroom was fixed by a few members of the Disciplinary Committee and Mukuro's gang.

The rest of the school day was pretty uneventful. Apart from the end.

"Hayato, could you please read the next paragraph?" The teacher asked, looking down at the book on their desk.

"Che, no." Came the reply.

The teacher looked up, rather offended by the remark, even if it was usual from this particular student. "And why not?" He growls out, glaring at the misbehaving student.

"Because some lunatic stole it." Hayato replies, folding his arms as he glares right back.

"What?" asks the teacher angrily, not believing such an obvious lie. Although it was true that there wasn't a book on Hayato's desk.

"It's like I said, it was stolen. Why not get the lunatic to read the book instead?" Hayato points to a corner of the room in front of him.

"Ushishishi~" comes the giggle from the shadows.

The teacher puts a hand over their face. '_Oh dear, not this one. I thought I'd never have to see him again."_

"Well then Prince, if you would like to return the book…" He knew how to handle this particular student, having taught him his first year. Things went hell of a lot more smoothly if he played along with the child's delusions and called him Prince.

Belphegor nodded and walked between the desks before sitting on Hayato's desk. Grinning cheekily, he messes up Hayato's hair as much as possible before turning back to the teacher. "The Prince will read in the place of his Musician." He announces.

"Huh? What's that name for, lunatic?" Hayato shouts, trying to sort his hair out. "I've never played for you." Plus he'd managed to wrangle out of playing the piano in class. It was quite a personal thing he wasn't ready to share with anyone other than his family.

"Every Royal Court needs a musician and there's no one more suited than you. The Prince knows this to be true." Belphegor replies, messing Hayato's hair up once more for calling him a lunatic. Hayato pauses, realising that the Varia's Prince was hinting that he had heard Hayato play the piano before.

Belphegor takes Hayato's sudden silence as a good sign and turns back to the class, clearing his throat loudly. "Ahem. Once upon a time there was a magnificent Prince. He was the most handsomest, the strongest, smartest, bestest Prince in the whole country, no, the whole world! Everyone was scared of the Prince and did as he said, bowing at his feet and giving him everything he desired. Then one day the Prince got bored and killed everyone. The End."

And with that shocking story, the end of school bell rang. Most of the other students sat there in silence for a few seconds, not believing what they'd just heard. Tsunayoshi started to pack his bag, more than used to such stories from the Varia. Ken, Chikusa and Hayato aren't fazed either, all coming from families of assassins. Belphegor grins at the sudden silence he had created.

"Ka-ching, no applause?" He pouts. "Well then how about this story? Once upon a time, the Prince braved the fearsome Boringlands, and came upon a certain classroom. In the classroom was Snow White and his," Bel did a quick head count, "11 dwarf defenders. The Prince plucked Snow White from his dreary cage, stealing him away before the dwarfs even knew what was happening. And they live happily ever after at the Prince's castle."

Before Tsunayoshi's friends knew what was happening, Tsunayoshi was no longer in his seat, Belphegor no longer posing on Hayato's desk, and an eerie giggle was coming from the door way.

"Bye~ Bii~"

"Haha, that was a great story. I didn't know they were in the drama club!"

"You Idiot! Tsunayoshi-sama's just been kidnapped!"

"Hahi? But didn't Tsunayoshi call him his big brother? Is it kidnapping if a family member takes you?"

"Ahh, he'll be fine, byon, don't get your knickers in a twist Hayato. Tsunayoshi-chan won't get hurt- He told us stories about those guys all the time."

* * *

><p>Tsunayoshi just giggles and relaxed for the ride, letting Belphegor carry him through the slowly crowding corridors. He waved at the Vindice member, letting him know he was okay and not in any danger.<p>

"Ushishishi~ Lookie at what the Prince has found!" Belphegor announces as he walks into the courtyard, in full view of the windows of the front of the school.

"About time trash. We've already been waiting half an hour." Growls Xanxus, looking bored whilst he sat on his portable throne.

"Of course the Prince's knows that. That's why I hacked into the school systems and set all the clocks an hour forwards. I wanted to take the Kitty home as soon as possible; The Prince has a brand new video game that the Kitty absolutely must try. It's a royal decree he cannot refuse." Belphegor nods his head as if that settled the matter.

"Can you put me down now? It's not nice staring at the floor the whole time." Tsunayoshi whines. Since Belphegor doesn't want to, Lussuria has to grab the poor child instead. Now finally able to talk to everyone face to face, he gives them a confused look and tilts his head. "But why are you all here? I know that Skull is too busy today to pick me up, but I was expecting someone more like Aria to pick me up, not you guys." Then, before they can take offence, Tsunayoshi quickly adds, "Not that I don't like the fact you've come all this way to pick me up, I'm just curious that's all."

The students flooding out of the school doors all pause at the sight of such scary older people- they must be from the high school across town, or the last years of the middle school, it was unusual to see such older people coming to this school. Those still in their classrooms look out the windows and spot the scene, like a lamb infront of a pack of wolves, and call to their friends to watch. Some people recognise the little boy as the one who dared to talk to the Vindice, as the one who could control the three gang leaders with a threat about a bag, the one who didn't incite Byakuran's sharp tongue. The girls of Tsunayoshi's fan club watch on worried that their little cutie was about to get beaten up by those big mean looking people outside. The whole school held its breath, waiting for the slaughter that was sure to come next. Wasn't anyone going to save him?

Xanxus grunts and stands, spinning on his heels to walk towards the school gates, not wanting to waste another second in such a weak place. He'd done enough time in those walls at his Father's behest, he wasn't spending another moment if he could help it.

And that's when Tsunayoshi spots something glinting in the light as Xanxus turns. His eyes widen before he quickly looks at the others.

Yes, yes, yes, yes!

They were all wearing the keychains he gave them for Valentines, in public, just like he asked them too! With a joyous giggle he jumps on the person closest to him. Squalo.

"VROOIII, brat, I'm not your personal bouncy castle." he complains, trying to pull the child off himself.

"But I'm really happy!" Tsunayoshi sings, smiling his thousand watt smile.

"Whatever for?" Levi asks. Sure their baby bro was usually happy all of the time, but not usually this much.

"But you're wearing them!" Tsunayoshi explains, waving a hand in their direction.

The Varia members look between themselves, seeing what they were wearing- nothing strange, just the high school uniform.

"You know, them!" Tsunayoshi waved his hand again, still grinning like a lunatic. In the background his fangirls were torn between squealing in joy at his absolute cuteness or gasping in fright for his careless behaviour in the presence of such dangerous and bloodthirsty people (what mafia child did NOT know of the Varia? Only the most sheltered ones, _maybe_. And the rest just got the idea from their looks.).

"What the-" the fangirls all hissed in the background, no such coarse language where their precious Tsunayoshi-chan can hear! Although they needn't have worried for Tsunayoshi's reflexes kick in and he smacks Xanxus's wrist with the usual admonishment. "-are you talking about, brat?" Xanxus growled and plucked the child off Squalo before the swordsman erupted and carelessly spouted something that might endanger Mafia Row or the little brat. Tsunayoshi squealed and allowed himself to be held by Xanxus, tugging gently on his fluffy ornament.

"Oh come on, where's that famed Varia Quality?" He asked, smiling up at the scary scary teen. Xanxus growled and (lightly) threw him at Levi, who caught him and let him sit on his shoulders. "You should know! Oh oh! I know!" A blink and a smile showed that the child got an idea. "You just won't say anything because that would make others notice them and they'd think you're not that scary or maybe someone would try to steal them and they are so precious to you and-"

"And the Kitty has to breathe, the Prince orders him to~" Bel chimed in, a bit startled by the chatter.

"Che! You think you can assume anything, brat?" Squalo snarked, stalking after Levi and glaring around to make the onlookers understand this kid was one not to mess with. "VOI! Where's the damn car, we'll talk at home!" He grumbled, but made sure his keychain was secure at his belt. Other members did so as well, but nobody other than those really perceptive noticed this small detail. After all, Varia Quality was the highest in the world for a reason.

Lussuria just smiled to himself over the personalities of his teammates, already knowing exactly what their dear little Tsu-chan had been talking about. It was sweet to see the little cutie get so excited over the Varia wearing the animal keychains he had gotten them for Valentines. And he already had a good idea as to why each member got the animal they did, he had been rather pleased by the peacock he had been given. An angry Liger, a ferocious shark, a mischievous sneaky mink and a hovering manta ray, they were all representations of the Varia themselves, not just because they looked nice.

"Tsuuuu-chaaan~ Let big sis Lussuria make you a snack when we get home~ I'm sure you must have had a hard day at school today." He shouts, fluttering behind the others on their way out of the gates.

* * *

><p>"<em>Children, your homework for this week is to write about your mummies and daddies and other family members and then be prepared to stand infront of the class and read it out loud. I expect it to be ready by Monday…"<em>

"OOII, what was that Kakii-pii? Want to say that again?" Growls Ken, standing nose to nose with Chikusa, hands on hips as he growls like an annoyed puppy.

Chikusa just blinks quite calmly at Ken, yet doesn't move away. "You obviously heard me the first time." He retorts. That just makes Ken angrier, lips peeling back to show off his fangs just like an angered wolf.

"YAAAHHH! Of course I heard it, and I'm telling you I was offended by it!" Ken shouts, pulling at his hair because of how infuriating Chikusa's response was. Smart ass.

"Ken. Chikusa." Mukuro says in a normal tone, yet still the boys hear it and are quiet, turning towards their older brother. Mukuro lifts a hand from where it has been resting on Chrome's shoulder and points to the ceiling.

Now that the pair weren't arguing with each other, they could hear the faint sounds of the piano upstairs playing. The piano wasn't something they heard often, but it was still a good indicator of Hayato's moods. All four listen to the song, realising just how beautiful and calming it sounded.

"That one must be for his mother." Mukuro remarks, going back to stroking Chrome's hair as they continued to listen to the music. "Talking of, aren't you two supposed to be working on your homework?"

"Heh, I never get how you can tell all that stuff just from what song he's playing." Ken scoffs, turning his nose up.

"Because I'm more sophisticated than you." Mukuro smirks.

"Hey! That's mean," Ken whines as Chikusa pulls him away, shaking his head as he did so. "And anyway, what are we supposed to write for this stupid assignment? That our parents loved us so much that they threw us away the first chance they got? That they were so in love with the Family that they'd hand their children over to scientists and never even check up on us. I don't even know if I can remember their stupid faces anymore." He growls in the back of his throat in distaste, moodily crossing his arms. Chrome curls up closer to Mukuro at the reminder, hugging Mukurowl tighter.

"Oya? You still consider them family? How pathetic." Scoffs Mukuro, turning his face away from Ken.

"Who are you even talking about?" Chikusa asks, showing his opinion on the matter- those people didn't even exist to him anymore. "I'm going to write about us, and Lancia, Fuuta, Tsunayoshi, Luce." Lancia smiles from where he was sat in the kitchen, feeding Fuuta his afternoon snack. It was nice to know the children saw him as more than their keeper. He was quite touched to be written about as part of their assignment.

"That's correct. So off you go then. My dearest Chrome and I can't wait to hear them," Mukuro teases, flicking his hand in a dismissing gesture. With the pair of boys gone, Mukuro and Chrome go back to listening to the breath-taking music coming from upstairs.

"I wish I had the words to describe you," Hayato mutters to himself. "But I don't. Mere words can't describe you as well as this song. But I don't want to play for them. I'm… I'm not ready for that yet. I still get nervous just knowing that the others are listening. W-Which they probably are now, the sound travels around the house, or so I'm told." Hayato stops playing and picks the blank page back up, pen poised to write something… but once more nothing comes.

He sighs, lowering the page and the pen. "Maybe I should start from somewhere else?" He wonders to himself. Although the thought of writing about his father made him recoil in disgust. Sure there were the nice moments, moments of kindness and attention, but they were marred by the all too frequent bad memories, of being ignored, of the looks of pain and disgust. Neither could look at the other anymore, Hayato hating the man who killed his mother and his father seeing a child that looked far too much like the woman he had loved and been forced to kill. Hayato wasn't going to write about Bianchi's mother either. She had been nice enough, ignored him unless in social situations, showing him off as a prodigy pianist. She didn't go out of her way to be mean to him at least, nor had tried to push being a normal family.

So maybe he should start with Bianchi? The idea made him shiver and his stomach swirl horridly, but still, she was his sister and did like him. She didn't seem to realise that her cookies were poisonous. Someday his words about her using her poison cooking unconsciously would get through to her. But until they did, he'd still continue writing that list of excuses. After all, it had been as embarrassing as hell to have fainted in front of Mukuro and his bunch when Bianchi arrived unexpectedly one day. They'd teased him for ages about it- although he had gotten a few good punches back, so they were even. However he had the sneaking suspicion that she used him as an excuse to see Reborn more often…

Thoughts of Reborn lead him to thoughts of Tsunayoshi and he looked up fondly at the half-written song sitting on the stand. There was no way he could leave Tsunayoshi-sama out of this assignment. He couldn't count the number of things Tsunayoshi-sama had given him. The other Arcobaleno too. Skull was exasperating but meant well enough, Reborn , Lal and Bermuda were just plain scary, Fon annoyed him, Colonnello too, Verde and Viper were amazing, and Luce… Luce was… she reminded him of his mother, her kind touch and soft caring words. Lancia cared about them a lot too, a good enough guy, understanding when Hayato wanted space and time alone, the little baby Fuuta was interesting… when watched from a safe distance. And Mukuro and his bunch, infuriating didn't even start to cover it, from the girl's quietness to Mukuro's twisted tongue and Ken's confrontational loud manner… Chikusa was alright actually. And he supposed he had better add Shamal to that list, his first male role model, someone he admired yet would never admit it. He was cool, powerful, his own man, a feared assassin that even the Varia had tried recruiting long ago. Shamal was his teacher and more a father than his biological one. After all, here in the Mafia, bonds counted for far more than blood and biology did.

Before Hayato knew it, he had a whole page written. After realising that maybe he did actually have a family, he finally felt confident enough to write a final few lines about his mother. He wondered if she liked the family he had found?

"Heya Mum, me again. How are things in heaven?" Takeshi asks, smiling as he sat down in the grass. "Me and Pops are doing well, as are all the chefs too. Oh, they say hi by the way. They miss you. They're always saying 'Remember when she did this?' or 'How about that one time when-'. It sounds like you all had a lot of fun together. Although I bet you're having just as much fun up there, right?" He takes the flowers he had been holding and exchanges them for the old stems sitting in the holder infront of the grave stone.

"Pops reckons that my batting average went up again. Once I'm old enough, I'll join the baseball club at school and I'll finally be able to tell you for sure. Although I did hit a ball last week and it went zoom zoom straight down the other end of the garden and woosh over the wall. That's the furthest I've ever hit a ball before, haha." He puts a hand at the back of his neck as he thinks about that achievement. Yeah that had been a good hit. "School's great too. It's so much fun every day! The Dean just appears randomly, like bam and he's there. The girls keep on screaming. Enma does too. But funnily enough Tsunayoshi never does. He still reckons that the Dean is Reborn. As if! Reborn's too cool to be seen looking like that. The girls there call me cool too. They follow me around and give me lunch boxes, isn't that nice of them?"

He rummages around in his backpack before pulling out a small box. "This is from Sakura and Mai. They said they'd come and see you when they get the chance. They take really good care of me and Pops, so you don't have to worry. Plus we never have to pay for clothes either! Haru, Kyoko and Ryohei are doing great too. Haru came up with a new costume the other day although she's still working on her Namehage one. She wants to give it flashing lights, which would be cool. Ryohei beat someone three years older than him in a boxing match last month. You should have heard his shout afterwards, I'm sure the whole of Namimori could hear it."

He sighs, looking at the other thing that was in his backpack: a book and a pen. "I'm supposed to be writing something about my family, the whole class has to do it and then we tell each other about it next week. I'm hoping that I can come up with something awesome about Pops. I can't wait to hear what Tsunayoshi writes, he's always telling me something amazing or funny about the Arcobaleno. If I didn't know them personally I'd swear it was all made up!"

"Spanner! No one will believe you if you say our family consists of transforming robots!" Shoichi shouts, having just read what Spanner had written. "If you're going to make stuff up at least make it believable."

"But Mini-Mosca Alpha is part of the family." Spanner mutters, ripping the page off forlornly and scrunching it up. Sure it wasn't much more than a modified remote controlled car made to look like a robot, but it was still their first ever robot and was important to him.

"Oya? Did you hear that Kikyo? We're all transforming robots. Did you know that?" Byakuran says mischievously, looking up at the other male.

"Oh-ho, so you finally found out. I'm sorry to have kept it from you for so long Byakuran." Kikyo replies, bowing in Byakuran's direction.

"If we're all robots, is that why it doesn't hurt when I get a cut? Do you think so Bubu?" Daisy asks his bunny, holding it up infront of his face.

"Of course not idjit." Zakuro growls. He would give Daisy a bop on the head if his hands weren't busy trying to keep a hold on Bluebell.

"Guys! I'm serious here! Spanner actually put that his family were all transforming robots! It's not a matter to laugh about!" Shoichi shouts, worrying and all in a panic. He even unfolds the piece of paper and shows everyone. That finally makes the Gesso Family burst out laughing; there had been drawings and everything.

"Look, Zakuro gets lasers coming out his eyes."

"Bluebell gets hydro cannons for hands."

Byakuran and his family are in tears, laughing so hard at how much effort Spanner had put into his work. It was hilarious yet very endearing at the same time. "We've got to put this on the fridge. I don't care, we're keeping it." Byakuran announces, wiping a tear away from his cheek. Spanner waves his lollipop in the air and grunts in acknowledgement.

"So, what are you two actually going to write about?" Asks Kikyo, interested.

"Well, I'll write about my dad of course." Shoichi supposes, looking down at the piece of paper on the desk. "I don't know about the rest of my family. All Dad said was that he had a fight with my mother and left one day, taking me with him. My sister stayed with my mum. Since I've been here all of my life, I don't even know what they look like."

"What does it matter that he left your mother? Women are annoying anyway." Zakuro grunts.

"Hey!" Bluebell shouts indigently, smacking Zakuro before pounding on his shoulders.

"Your dad is a great man." Byakuran says seriously.

"Indeed. The computer programs he writes for the Gesso Family are one of our biggest incomes. That means he pays for all your little pet projects." Kikyo informs with a soft reassuring smile.

"And for all my marshmallows." Byakuran sings, popping one into his mouth.

"And his video games are fun." Daisy comments, Bubu nodding along.

"And the same is true of Spanner's grandfather. His advanced weaponry keeps the members of our small Famiglia safe." Adds in Kikyo. No one mentions about Spanner's parents, simply because he didn't have any. He had been raised by his grandfather and was brought into the family when his grandfather was. The whole family had learnt Japanese from Spanner's grandfather, since the man loved anything to do with that particular culture and both shared a love of Japanese robotics. It helped immensely when they went to school in Japan.

"I hope you're going to write about us too. I'd be sad if you didn't." Byakuran pouts, giving one of his scary scary smiles. Shoichi shivered, feeling his stomach twist.

"Of course! Of course!" He placates. "I wouldn't dream of not including you guys!"

"That's a good Sho-chan," Byakuran says, patting Shoichi on the head before turning away and walking towards the door. "Come on guys. We need to refuel before our engines shut down~."

"Not funny!"

"Hey, what's got you all laughing so much?" Cozarto asks, walking into the living room of the Shimon mansion. The children had been laughing very loudly, louder than usual. He expected that even Giotto next door could hear it.

"Cozarto! You've just got to read this! It's Enma's assignment!" Koyo shouts, waving the piece of paper in the air. Enma makes a feeble grab for the paper, but Koyo holds him away easily with one hand.

Interested, Cozarto walks over and takes the piece of paper. "You shouldn't steal Enma's homework, especially something like this." He chides, but continues to read the piece of paper anyway. He was rather interested in it, wondering what the shy boy would have written about the others. They weren't the nicest brothers and sisters after all.

What was written was actually a heart-warming account of their rag-tag family, keeping to the bare details. Enma had generally skipped over the reasons behind them becoming orphans, just simply stating that their parents were all dead. Although this was common for children in the Mafia. The red head had painted Cozarto as more than just their guardian, but as a loving father. And whilst the boy could justifiably show his brothers and sisters in a bad light, he hadn't even touched on that, somehow finding all their good qualities and focusing on them instead. It almost made Cozarto want to cry. He was actually very proud of it.

Enma had been looking down at the floor as Cozarto read, remaining silent. He knew he wouldn't be able to get that paper off of Cozarto, but he was embarrassed about what he had written there. He didn't want the others reading it, but they'd forced it off of him as usual. And then they had started laughing. Cozarto was going to laugh too, he knew it, any second now… Jumping, he looks up when a slender hand ruffles his hair.

"I loved it." Cozarto says, smiling down at Enma. "It's nothing to laugh about. And I'm sure the others appreciate what you wrote about them, even if they don't show it." He hoped that when he returned to the past and had children, they were as adorable as Enma was. He leans forwards, whispering into his descendant's ear, "I'll give you some extra dessert tonight once the others have all fallen asleep. How does that sound?" Enma blushes and nods, a small smile creeping onto his lips.

Standing back up, he looks down at the children he sees as his own and grins. "Alright then, who's up for a game of hide and seek? If I can't find you all within ten minutes then I'll do all the chores tonight myself."

"Tsunayoshi-dono, it is strange to see thee by thyself. Are the Arcobaleno too busy to play with thee?" Basil asks, sitting down on the swing next to Tsunayoshi. They were in the playground set within Mafia Row Central, a place for children to play whilst their parent were at the restaurants, gym or tailors.

Tsunayoshi looks up, startled by Basil's sudden appearance. "Oh no. I came here for some peace and quiet to think." Tsunayoshi explains. He hadn't wanted to find somewhere in their large garden simply because last time he had gotten lost. It was far simpler to come here instead.

"To think?" Basil asks. What would a child like Tsunayoshi have to think hard about?

"Yeah, it's for my homework. I have to write about my family. The others were being pretty loud so I came outside for a little bit. I can think about them better when they aren't shouting at each other." Tsunayoshi laughs. "Ne, Basil, what are your family like?"

Basil pushes his feet, setting the swing in motion as he stares up at the sky. "I am afraid to inform thee that I actually do not know my parentage. My Master hast told me that I was the only survivor of a CEDEF raid. Being a baby that could not even walk or talk, they decided I was no threat and took me in. My Master is a compassionate man when the Family is not in danger."

"So Mr Iemitsu isn't your daddy?" Tsunayoshi asks confused. They looked suspiciously similar, Tsunayoshi had assumed that Basil was his son.

"No, My Master is not my father. Although I do see him as such. He hast taken great care of me, as hast the rest of the CEDEF. Therefore I do not worry about my heritage. I have never known them and therefore can't wonder about them nor worry about them. The CEDEF are more than sufficient for me."

"You, Oregano and Turmeric always look happy together." Tsunayoshi adds with a smile. Even though Oregano wasn't an adult she always seemed like one because of how grown up she was. She made a very good big sister for Basil. Turmeric was always fun to play with too.

Basil nods in agreement before stopping the swing from swinging. "So, hast thou decided further on what thee shall write? Thou must surely have a lot to write about, with thy family being as large as it is."

"That's the problem, I don't know where to start!" Tsunayoshi whines.

"I can see the dilemma. But for thy safety I doth believeth that starting with Lady Luce would be the best option." Explains Basil, a worried smile on his face.

Tsunayoshi nods rapidly. "Yes, you're right. Luce would want to be first. Thanks Basil." He smiles brightly before quickly starting to write.

"You are most welcome Tsunayoshi-dono. Do not stay out too late or the Arcobaleno shall worry for thy safety."

"Don't worry I won't." Tsunayoshi assures, smiling at Basil as he left the park.

As Basil walks out of the park, he hears a loud "Yosh! Let's do this!" behind him, and can't help but smile. He was sure that assignment would get done in no time now.

* * *

><p><strong>Next time we cover Fran and Tsunayoshi~ Look forwards to it!<strong>

**And thank you all so much for over 2,000 reviews! It means so much to me, and everyone gives such wonderful reviews too. It really cheered me up over this stressful time. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 27 May 2013**


	95. Everything Will Be Okay

Chapter 95:

Everything will be fine.

**I'm going to apologise for how long this has taken to write. I know it's been a very long time, and I'm very thankful for all of the encouraging and worried reviews I got whilst I was gone. They really mean a lot to me and made me smile during this stressful period. **

**A very big thanks is owed to Erephen, who finally forced me to write this chapter. She dealt with my mood swings and threats to kill accountants and solicitors when I was going through a stressful time at work, along with all my moaning and groaning without once telling me to shut up (even if I did apologise for it). She was always bugging me to get this chapter written, giving me ideas when my brain refused to and even writing one section for me that I physically couldn't write (I mean that literally, I turned away from the laptop whenever I even thought about it), and even distracting me at times with rather sexy pictures of Hayato (she knows my weaknesses too well).**

**So if you want to thank anyone, thank her- I'm sure a Xanxus plushie would be greatly received XD**

**This chapter isn't one of my best, but considering all I did was hit one block after another, I'm amazed I got anything out at all. Tsunayoshi's speech in this one is far from grammatically correct, mainly because he's an excited almost-six year old, and because I'm writing colloquially rather than grammatically. **

**Although on the good side, this chapter is 8,000 words long without these ramblings, so I hope you all enjoy it~**

**Have fun~**

* * *

><p>"Thank you very much Emiko, that was wonderful. Okay then, let's see. Next we have… Fran. So if you'd like to come to the front then Fran." The teacher smiled in an encouraging way as the children clapped.<p>

"I don't know why you are all clapping. I haven't even done anything yet." Fran says as he stands and walks to the podium set up at the front. He looks at the class with a serious face before tapping a collection of cue cards on the desk in a professional manner. The class settle down and turn their attention to Fran, interested in what this weird boy was going to say and what type of family someone like him had to be like this.

"Ahem. Ah-h-h-hem." Goes Fran after a few seconds of high tension silence. The anticipation in the room increases…

…  
>…<p>

"I was abandoned. The End." Fran bows and starts to walk back to his seat.

The class blink, having expected something different than that.

"Now now Fran." Says the teacher in a warning tone, tutting. "No joking around and do this properly. All your classmates have shared with you so it's only polite to do the same."

Fran sighs before turning around and walking back to the podium. "If I was joking, then I would have come up with a better one, Miss Fake Glasses. Is that a joke too or are you seriously trying to seduce a room of 5 year olds?" Fran tilts his head, looking up at the teacher, as do all the other students.

"Fran…" Growls the teacher.

"Hai, hai. I'll do the 'proper' version now. Don't blame me when you all prefer the other version." Fran mutters, walking back to the podium.

The cue cards were once more banged against the podium, drawing a close to the children's mutterings. "Ahem… Ah-h-h-h-hem…"

...

...

...

"I really was abandoned, tragic, I know. For as long as I can remember, I've moved from family to family. At first they were all really nice to me, treating me like anyone would treat a son, like one of the family. At first it was fun, but eventually it changed, it always did."

Tsunayoshi felt rather sad for Fran, having been moved around so often. His story was an interesting one, for more than one reason. The other being the little people moving around the cue cards as Fran talked. As Fran explained more about the families he had lived with, Tsunayoshi could see each one in perfect clarity right down to the spots on the fourth family's pet dog. Most students assumed it was something Fran had planned before hand, a way to make his presentation more interesting; he had never once looked down at the story unfolding between his hands on the desk. But Tsunayoshi wasn't sure that was the case. He was sure something more was going on here. Tsunayoshi's suspicions were becoming more and more founded with every figure appearing on the cards.

"The change was usually a slow one. First they'd just give me funny looks, or tell me off for doing practical jokes when I hadn't done anything. But after a little while they would start to act differently around me; they would be scared of me, send me to bed early, blame me for things I hadn't done. It got so bad that they eventually couldn't even look at me. It was then that they handed me over to a different family. I didn't know why I was being moved, but I didn't mind, I thought it was kinda cool."

Fran shrugged his shoulders, rolling his eyes as if he really didn't care at all. The pictures on the cue cards changed once again, showing different houses, different gardens, different families.

"But then the same thing happened, they got scared of me and shunned me. So I got moved again. And again. And again. I stopped thinking that moving was fun, they were just getting rid of me because they thought I was scary or possessed. It didn't matter how nice I was to them, how much I smiled or pleaded or acted like an angel, they still sent me off to someone else after a few months. So I just stopped caring. It didn't change a thing. Where I'm living now is alright though. Grandma is a senile batty lady who can't see well enough to tell her melon from her lettuce, but she's kept me for nearly a year now without once looking at me strangely. Yeah, you, in the front row, you're doing that look pretty well, have you met my uncle Fred? So any questions?"

Silence.

"No, I didn't think so." Fran nods his head before going and sitting back down at the table. Tsunayoshi watches as the pictures disappear, there one moment, gone the next. The silence still being given by the class gives him a few seconds to think. Despite how preposterous the story sounded (or at least to most of the sheltered civilians, it was more believable for the Mafia-born) Tsunayoshi had a strong feeling that it was true. He had images of a teen in a frog hat and a man with a trident flitter through his memory: One of those mysterious feelings that was unexplainably true.

_Brrrrring_!

The sound of a bell wakes Tsunayoshi out of his thoughts, making him look around the room.

"Alright then children, it's time for a break. We'll continue these when everyone comes back, okay?" Announces the teacher. The children nod, glad to be able to stand and run around, having gotten bored of sitting.

After packing away his stuff, Tsunayoshi walks over to Fran's desk. The hatted male looks up at him, tilting his head slightly. "Yes, Trap-chan?"

Tsunayoshi had no clue what that nickname meant, but he didn't really care either. Instead, he was trying to hold back his tears. "F-Fran…" No, he couldn't do it! "FRAN!" He hugged Fran tightly, tears spilling down his cheeks. Fran was shocked, and more than a little confused, not that you could see it on his face, and sat there for a moment, wondering what to do. Tsunayoshi's friends froze from where they were around the room, turning to look at where their friend was, wondering why he was so distressed.

"Oi! What did you do to Tsunayoshi-sama?!" Hayato shouts, stomping over to the desk, a stormy look on his face.

"Tsunayoshi, what's wrong?" Kyoko asks, patting his back gently.

"I-i-it's j-just so-so-so sad!" comes the answer through a torrent of tears and choking sobs.

"Hey, give Tsunayoshi-sama some space!" growls Hayato, pushing the others back. Although it was clear that they were all worried about Tsunayoshi, he didn't usually burst out crying for no reason. Pacing for a little bit, Hayato tries to think of a way to get Tsunayoshi-sama to calm down. If only they were back home this would be so much easier. Ah that's it!

"Ken." Chikusa says, tapping Ken on the shoulder. Ken turns around with a growl- the whole crying thing was annoying him, even though he too was worried about Tsunayoshi- only to find what had troubled Chikusa.

"OOII~ Hayato! Now is no time to be jumping out of windows! That'll only make Tsunayoshi-chan even more sad!"

"Idiot! I'm not going to jump out of a window just because Tsunayoshi-sama is crying! I'm looking for the Arcobaleno! They are always around Tsunayoshi-sama, therefore logic dictates that they should be around here too. I doubt they'd leave him alone here and not 'at home'. But I can't see any of them!" Explains Hayato, leaning out of the window as far as he can to get the best view.

Fran watched this with amusement; Tsunayoshi's friends always amused him, they did a lot of funny stuff. Hayato's behaviour in particular amused Fran. "Ne, Boy who is too cute to be male, you're getting my uniform wet. I would like an explanation. I don't usually offer my services as a human handkerchief to just anyone." He gently pushes Tsunayoshi away from himself to be able to see his face, and to stop his uniform getting any wetter. Then he sighs. "Aaah, why are you one of the lucky ones? Able to cry whilst still looking pretty. Very few people can manage that you know. It's no wonder all the girls are envious. You make a better girl than most of them."

Tsunayoshi laughs slightly, taking that as a compliment- it was never easy to tell with Fran. "I'm sorry Fran. I just think that what happened to you is really sad, especially when none of it is your fault. You just didn't know about that stuff. Maybe if your real parents were still around they'd tell you about it. But-But instead, all that bad stuff happened!"

"You're not making sense." Fran states.

Tsunayoshi shakes his head, wiping the tears away with the back of his hand. "Ah, no, I might be wrong. It's just I see you as that same indigo." He mutters before looking around him. "Ah, Ken, Chikusa, could you find Mukuro for me? I want him to check something."

The pair practically fall over themselves trying to get out of the door first- after having pulled Hayato down from the window of course. After a few minutes, the pair return with Mukuro in tow.

"Oya oya, what's with all the tears, my dear Tsunayoshi?" Mukuro asks, gently holding Tsunayoshi's chin. He gives a disapproving glance at Tsunayoshi's current 'seat'. He'd seen the boy hanging around with Tsunayoshi's group, but he hadn't paid the apple hatted child much attention before now. And on the few occasions they had met, the boy had driven Mukuro so mad that he wished to plant his trident deep into that silly hat and shut the child up for good. But he currently had to be on his best behaviour, especially when it came to him wanting to kill people- he was sure some of the Arcobaleno would use any excuse to get him away from Tsunayoshi.

"Mukuro…" Tsunayoshi whispers, voice hoarse from his crying. Mukuro blinked- damn, if he could harness the power of that look he could fell any enemy. "Please Mukuro, I need you to check something for me."

"Kufufufu~ of course. But you owe me when we get back home Tsunayoshi." Mukuro chuckles, releasing the boy's chin to stand back up tall and proud. "So what is it that requires my presence specifically?"

"Umm, it'd be easier if I show you. I don't want to put ideas in your head beforehand." Tsunayoshi explains, looking through his bag for what he wanted. "Ah, here. Fran, can you read this book for me?"

Fran had no clue what was going on, although he was worried about what Mukuro would do to Tsunayoshi when they got home. Mukuro's tone had been rather suspicious. "Hai~ I'll read it, Carino-chan~." He took the book from Tsunayoshi before turning the boy so he sat properly on his lap, both facing the desk, his arms either side of the boy to place the book in front of them. Luckily there was no need to hide his grin- his face would never show it- since the reaction from the others was rather hilarious. The boys seemed personally offended and the girls just found it normal. These people were going to be very fun to play with, he could tell.  
>"Once upon a time, there was a cat and a dog…"<p>

As Fran started to read, Mukuro soon realised what Tsunayoshi wanted him to see. Sadly that made this annoying boy a little more interesting. Although he was proud of Tsunayoshi noticing it.

"Cease at once. Your voice is annoying me." Mukuro orders. "I would still take him to Mammon-sensei if I was you, but I think you have made the correct assumption. Make sure to stay away from him Tsunayoshi- you know what they say about those who remain untrained."

" So I was right!" Tsunayoshi giggles in glee, ignoring Mukuro's comment. Tsunayoshi then turns to look at Fran over his shoulder. "Don't worry Fran, there's nothing wrong with you, you're just special! Those people who looked after you just didn't know it! But everything is going to be okay from now on!"

The few in the know sighed softly. For when Tsunayoshi said everything was going to be okay, it really would be.

* * *

><p>"Hmm, who should go next?" Hums the teacher, looking out over the class of students. As usual, some were slinking down in their chairs, trying to hide from her gaze, and whilst others were looking out the window instead. Although she had chosen an inattentive student last time, this time she had better pick one of the nice children.<p>

"Tsunayoshi, why don't you come up next?" She decides, giving him an encouraging smile.

The small boy leaps up with a huge smile on his face, practically bouncing towards the desk prepared at the front of the class. Tsunayoshi didn't even need notes for prompts, he knew exactly what he was going to say. If anything he had _too_ much to say.

"Well, my family is really big, and everyone is different from each other. So that kind of leads to lots of arguments, but we all love each other really. And I love all of them lots and lots, equally! I bet they'd get into a big fight if I said that I didn't, hehe. But I do anyway, so that's alright!"

The girls of the class cooed at his enthusiasm and the way he was stumbling over himself to get his words out. It really showed how much he loved them. Ahh~ If only Tsunayoshi spoke about _them_ like that!

"So first off is Luce. She's like _everyone's_ mother and takes really good care of us all. She looks after us when we're ill, or when I've hurt myself, and her kisses make everything better! And she makes me loads of pretty clothes too. Luce likes dressing me up in the outfits she makes, and she makes sure that they fit wherever we're going or whoever I'm with. They're cute and safe! Although she gets really mad if I get them dirty or ripped. So everyone tries really hard not to let my clothes get dirty, it's almost like one huge game!"

So this Luce lady was responsible for making all the cute hoodies and jumpers Tsunayoshi came in? Ahh she was a genius! The fangirls would forever bow to her fashion greatness!

"Although the best person to play games with is Colonnello, he gets really into them. And he plays with me even when he's tired from training all day. Colonnello always makes me smile because he's always smiling too. Oh and he's always teasing everyone, which makes everyone else laugh, although it does mean he's always running ALL around the house away from the person he's teased. But the best thing about Colonnello is that he's always looking out for me; he's like a really cool older brother. Whenever I'm worn out or tired or feeling like I'm going to cry, he takes me out to the forest and we look at the sky or the stars together and he always manages to calm me down again."

That guy sounded like a great older brother. As long as he didn't tease their darling Tsunayoshi though. Or else.

"The person Colonnello likes to tease the most is Lal because she doesn't smile that often, even though her smile is beautiful. She's quite strict at times and likes to shout a lot, but that's only because she's in the army and is used to shouting all the time. Because of that, she doesn't like to appear weak or girly infront of anyone since she thinks she'll get teased. I don't tease her though. I know that she's got a soft spot for me because she doesn't shout that loud at me and she even gives me hugs sometimes. So I always make sure to save a piece of chocolate cake for her since she likes that best. Lal protects me in her own way by trying to make me stronger so I can protect myself and she teaches me to work through my fear because I get scared of a lot of things, hehe."

Oh his face was so cute when he said that. Although the class had to wonder how true that statement was considering the people he had as friends- the three Gang leaders, those scary adults from a few months ago, even the Vindice guards. If he got scared easily then how did he manage to spend his time around those frightening people?

"Although the best person to help me through my fears is Fon. He's the calmest person at home and I love him lots because of that- the others can get pretty crazy at times. And I love Fon's cooking too, he makes really yummy stuff that's good for your body. He's teaching me martial arts at the moment which are really fun! He says that I'm getting really good at it. Although I don't think that I'll ever be as good as he is. He's the best! When we're not practicing that then we sit around relaxing- he reads me bed time stories sometimes, or we play video games together."

No one except those who live with him could imagine Tsunayoshi doing martial arts, he just seemed far too cute for that. Instead, people tried to stop themselves imagine what the bed time story scene looked like, Tsunayoshi, eyes tired, tucked up in bed, listening to the soft soothing voice of this man (or so they imagined).

"But when it comes to having fun, then Skull is the best at that. Skull and I have SOO much fun together, he always makes me laugh and smile. So in return I protect him when the others go too far in their teasing. The others say that Skull is weak but he's really not, he's just strong in a different way from them. Whenever I'm in trouble Skull is always the first one there, protecting me no matter how much damage he gets instead. I know that I'm always safe whenever Skull is around, even when we are doing dangerous stunts as part of his stage show. I love doing stunts with him because that always means flying and that's the best feeling in the world. Skull is always so cool when he's doing his stunts, almost like he's a totally different person. Sometimes I wish I had the confidence he does to do dangerous stunts like him."

It was amazing how soft Tsunayoshi's smile had gotten at mentioning this person. And how bright his eyes had gotten, obviously thinking of all the fun times they must have had together. Even if those stunts sounded dangerous. Was this the person who picked Tsunayoshi up everyday with that dangerous leap of faith? (which actually wasn't a leap at all if anyone bothered to look clearly).

But wait a second... Stunts... Skull... Surely Tsunayoshi couldn't meant THE Skull?! Immortal stuntman from Hell whom the Reaper rejected?

"Everyone in the house has dangerous jobs though, so that makes me worry about them a lot. But there are two people other than Skull that me and Luce worry about and the first of them is Verde. Since he's a scientist he has a habit of staying in his lab all day and not eating or taking breaks. So I have to go down there and drag him back up or else he'll get sick. Me and Luce are the only people who can safely drag Verde back up. I wouldn't know what to do if Verde got sick, because he's also a doctor and is the one who makes everyone better when they fall ill. There are always interesting things happening in Verde's lab and he often lets me watch as long as I'm fully protected. And I get a really close up view because he lets me sit on his lap. I also learn a lot of things from Verde; whenever I don't understand something, or a word, he makes sure to explain it to me until I do understand. Verde seems cold and distant to people he meets but he's never like that with me, which I think he finds strange for some reason."

Tsunayoshi lived with a scientist? It was no wonder he knew a lot of things once he knew the Japanese words for it. The children couldn't help but imagine what living with a scientist was like, with fizzing chemicals and things going bang, and maybe... maybe a scene right out of Frankenstein with zombies and evil laughter! How cool would that be?

"The second person Luce and I worry about a lot is Mammon because she doesn't come out her room a lot either. She always sleeps in until noon and everyone knows not to wake her up before then or else she gets cranky. She's a famous psychic, so when I was younger before I could talk, she used to read my kind to know what I wanted. She still does that sometimes, which I think is pretty cool. She took me to one of her Psychic Fairs once so I got to see how good she really is. She could tell all of these amazing things about a person who she had never met before. That's because she's the real deal. Skull and I reckon that she's actually a witch~. I get lots and lots of hugs from Mammon, which I love, 'cause hugs are the best and she gives really good ones. Everyone in the house knows to be careful with money because otherwise Mammon gets really angry."

A witch and a scientist in the same house? That was strange. Although not getting up until noon sounded amazing! The girls were slightly jealous of this Mammon person, getting to hug the cutie so often. They'd just have to give better hugs than she did!

But the name sounded familiar. A famous psychic... Mammon... No way, was that yet another famous person Tsunayoshi knew? Or was he just making it up? This line up was starting to sound suspicious...

"The next person in the family is Bermuda. To anyone outside the family he's quite cold and formal, but with us he's really friendly and caring. He talks quite poshly because of his noble heritage. You can tell when he gets really mad because he starts using olden-time words. He doesn't get angry very often though, usually he's very calm. Bermuda and I play video games together and sometimes he reads me a story before bed as well. Bermuda is always protecting me, especially when the others are fighting. I think Bermuda's secretly a knight because he's always protecting everyone even though everyone is scared of him."

A knight sounded rather romantic and cool. And being someone of the nobility to boot! What amazing people Tsunayoshi lived with.

"And the final person is Reborn. Reborn can be scary at times but I know he's only that way to make me stronger and he's always teaching me how to protect myself and how to be a man. He teaches me a lot of life lessons that I have to take to heart. Reborn is always looking out for me even though he doesn't admit it, but then again he's protective over lots of things that he considers his. Reborn is one of the only people who doesn't fall for my puppy dog eyes, most of the family does, but he doesn't. Hmm... I don't think I can say anything else without ruining Reborn's image, he likes his image a lot, hehe."

There was silence as Tsunayoshi finished, the class shocked by what they had just heard. Terrific truth or fantastic fiction?

"He said he lives with Skull-sama!" One boy whispered to his friends, outraged but curious. "Is it the truth or is he a liar?"

"Mammon? I know that name! She's sooo epic and really awesome and her powers are the thing! And he lives with her?" The friends of that girl were looking at the cute boy in wonder.

"Che! He claims he lives with the best hitman in the world? Stupid liar!" A boy, who was from a mid-sized mafia family, mumbled to himself, as his friends who also were in the know nodded furiously.  
>There was no way this kid could live with all those famous and epic and powerful people!<p>

"Nee, Tsunayoshi, can I ask you something?" A small girl raised her hand. "Who's your maman?"

'_Maman! Maman! Gimme grape candy!'_

'_C'mon Dame-Tsuna, let's go home. Maman is worried.' _

"Well, my maman is Mama Luce!" Tsunayoshi answered with a happy smile, although the whispers he heard made his heart hurt. Why didn't they believe him?

"Uh, and your da?" A light-haired boy with a thick accent butted in, clearly interested. "'Cause I kno' ho' lady Luce looks an'ya don' look like her, ya kno'?"

"Uuuhh..." Tsunayoshi was startled a bit. Who was his dad?... yeah, who?

'_I hate him!'_

'_You've always been away and never come back home. What would you know of me?'_

"I don't know..."

"But how? Even I know who my da is, and my parents stopped being together a bit before I was born!" One of the students piped in, looking at the boy with innocent curiosity. Other kids were also nodding, this was really, really strange!

_'... abandoned me and my mother in that house, alone forever...'_

"I-I I don't know..." Tsunayoshi muttered, looking around the room at all the people.

"Che, shut the hell up, what does it matter?!" Hayato growls, slamming his hands on his desk.

The question made Tsunayoshi realise, he didn't know. He'd never asked, never even cared. All the Arcobaleno looked after him like a father or a brother, so it hadn't mattered. Luce had insisted being called 'Mama', it was one of the first words he had learnt.

'_Ahlala, did you hear that darling? Tsu-kun just called me mama!'_

'_Ah! That's wonderful Nana. Just wait until the people at work hear that my little boy spoke his first word!'_

'_Ne, Tsu-kun, can you say Dada?'_

Just who were these people? He didn't know them! Ow, his head hurt so badly. Why didn't these pictures stop? Why did his head hurt tremendously when anyone mentioned his father? Did it really matter that much?

Would someone make it **stop**!

Holding his head in pain, Tsunayoshi ran out of the classroom. The teacher and the rest of the class were silent for a moment, staring in the direction of the door, where all Tsunayoshi's close friends were trying to fit through at once in their rush to get to him.

Tsunayoshi ignores the shouts of his friends trying to follow him and instead makes his way towards the courtyard of the school, stumbling every now and again when a painful flare of a new memory makes his head hurt. Finally he makes it out onto the courtyard, blinking away the sudden brightness of the sun that hurt his already teary eyes, looking round for the Vindice officer that was always guarding their school.

Instead he finds someone else.

"Herbivore, what is going on? You seem to be the cause of a rather undisciplined ruckus."

Hibari had heard the noise Tsunayoshi's friends were making and after arriving on the scene and seeing the pile of squirming bodies squashed in the doorframe, all trying to be the first out of the door, he knew immediately who had to be the cause. And indeed, here before him was a crying Tsunayoshi, looking flustered and weak like a mouse, not the lion cub he knew the boy actually was.

"Leave me alone Hibari." Tsunayoshi mutters, walking past Hibari on his way to the gate, hoping the Vindice officer was there instead.

However a few steps later, Hibari steps infront of him, looking annoyed at being brushed off. "Herbivore." the Prefect growls.

"You can't help me." Tsunayoshi interrupts, voice louder than usual since the pain was only getting worse the more he thought about the situation. "I need Her!"

Taking a step forwards, Hibari was about to take hold of Tsunayoshi's collar to ask what was going on and who the woman he needed was (to restore order of course, not because he was actually ever-so-slightly concerned about the little lion's tearful state.), when someone new appeared and interrupted.

Tsunayoshi looked up at the new person and realised that his vision was starting to go slightly indigo-tinged. Luckily, it was the person he had been looking for.

"Take me back home! I need to see her!" He pleaded, taking ahold of the Jailer's cape and pulling.

The Jailer had his orders (do whatever the child asks or else be left Flameless- the Officer wasn't sure how far the order of 'whatever the child asked for' went, but to be brought home was a reasonable request) so he placed a hand on the boy's fluffy hair to calm him. Whilst he was not at the Vendicare that often, he too was fond of the boy who always made sure to greet him every time they met, so to see him in crying and clearly in pain made him concerned. He knew Bermuda-sama would want the boy seen to immediately.

"**As you wish, Tsunayoshi-sama."** The Guard intones, voice deep and emotionless. Stepping back and waving his hand, a starry black portal appears in the air next to him. After taking the boy's hand and reminding him to take a breath, both step through.

Which leaves a very annoyed and slightly confused Hibari standing in the middle of the courtyard, still with no answers. Although that problem could soon be sorted out after a visit to a certain classroom. That doorframe would soon be free, once he was through with Tsunayoshi's friends.

* * *

><p>Within the space of a breath, Tsunayoshi and the Officer are standing infront of the gate to the Arcobaleno House and the Jailer is opening the gate for him. This was as far as he was allowed to take the boy.<p>

"Thank you." Tsunayoshi hisses, ever polite as always even when in pain, before running up the path towards the house. The front door gets slammed open, shoes kicked off and the stairs stomped up. He didn't care what the time was, he didn't care that he was going to get charged a wake up fee; she could charge him as much as she wanted, enough that it would take eternity to pay off, he didn't care as long as she made this pain go away.

Opening the final door, Tsunayoshi dodges the reflexive knife thrown his way and flings himself on the bed.

"Viper!"

He climbs half on top of her, burying his head against her chest as he clutched the covers.

"Please make it stop." He begs, voice a high pitched tight whine.

"Tsunayoshi, what's wrong?" She asks, half sitting up, the other hand rubbing along Tsunayoshi's back. She had absolutely no idea what was wrong with the boy, having been asleep ever since she got back home at three that morning. She didn't even stop to wonder how on earth the boy had gotten home when he should have been at school. The only thoughts in her head were questions about why the boy in her arms was crying and what she could do to make it stop.

"My head... hurts... those... those..." Damn he really needed a better term for these. "..._aah_... feelings I get... I can't stop them..._hsss_... even though... they hurt... I know you... can ... _haah_... fix it." Her little boy looked up at her, painful desperation clear in his eyes. "Please, Viper."

Viper nods. How could she not? A few seconds of manoeuvring, and she had her back against the headboard, Tsunayoshi curled up in her lap, his head tucked under her chin. Fantasma had come out during that time, for once not jealous of the boy who was stealing his mistress away from him. Instead he sat on her shoulder, watching carefully. But as soon as his mistress's hands glowed faintly indigo, he knew what he needed to do.

_Ribit_. "Breathe in."

_Ribbit_. "Breathe out."

_Ribit_. "Breathe in."

_Ribbit_. "Breathe out."

"Tsunayoshi, I need you to think back for me." Her voice was barely a whisper, timed to perfection between breaths. "Back to when these feelings started earlier." Her little boy whimpers but nods, still breathing in time to Fantasma's calls.

She gently places her fingertip to the centre of his forehead, just like when he was a baby, and looks back across his memory.

Oh.

This was bad.

Like with all of Sky's memories, they appeared on a trigger, in this case, familial attachments. It provided Tsunayoshi with key life experiences and knowledge far beyond his years. It was another point of view of the world that didn't quite exist. It explained a lot of Tsunayoshi's weird behaviour as he was growing up, and had been something the Arcobaleno had gotten used to in the year and a half since they had learnt the truth.

But the problem was, it wasn't very easily tampered with. For starters the Flame used, whilst a Mist element, was not her own. Secondly the person that had cast this spell was pretty powerful in their own right. When they had confronted Iemitsu and realised that he despised the child and wanted nothing to do with him, Viper had tried to lock the memories of him in particular away. But it wasn't very easy considering she couldn't get direct access to the memories she needed. So she had been forced to compromise.

Had she known that Tsunayoshi was doing such an assignment, she would have been more careful, maybe put in a few words/threats to allow Tsunayoshi to skip it, or even pretend that he was ill for the day. Anything (and when Viper, the money-orientated, Varia-Quality witch of the Arcobaleno said 'anything', she truly meant it) to reduce this possibility. However Tsunayoshi had hidden it, gone to the park to think instead of allowing them to see his opinions. But it had happened and now there was nothing she could do except fix the problem as best as she could.

Which sadly was going to be a painful process for them all.

It wasn't hard to remove the mental blocks she herself had put in place. This eased the pressure in Tsunayoshi's head, no longer having two Mist spells conflicting each other. The physical relief was clear to see, the boy falling limp in her arms compared to the tight frame he had had earlier.

"You can come in now." She says, addressing the collection of adults pretending to have business in the hallway outside her room. Although she was relieved that they had the sense to leave her alone until she was done.

"Ah, Tsunayoshi! Bermuda said you weren't feeling very well." Luce cries, sitting on the edge of the bed, a cookie and a warm glass of milk with honey in her hands- this was obviously something that a kiss and a plaster wasn't going to fix.

"My Officer informed me," Says Bermuda in explanation.

"I've had words with the Dean about what happened, as well as with your teacher. You'll be excused of your behaviour and the incident forgotten about." Reborn says, leaning against the wall as usual, a carefully blank expression on his face. If he was feeling better, Tsunayoshi would have laughed at the image of Reborn 'having words with the Dean' aka, Reborn having words with himself.

Tsunayoshi looks up from where he had buried his head in Viper's nightdress, straight at Luce with a strange gaze, something the Arcobaleno had never seen on Tsunayoshi's face before. "Mama, I need a hug."

Luce nods, smiling her gently beautiful smile at him before placing down the items and opening her arms wide in his direction. "Come here darling."

Crawling out of Viper's lap, Tsunayoshi instead sits on Luce's, hugging his mother even tighter than usual. "You are my mother right? Not that other woman. I don't even know why I'm imagining another woman, you're all the mother I could ever ask for."

The Arcobaleno freeze at the mumbled statement, their fears coming true. Reborn had warned them about what had happened at the school that day, and being the only ones to know about the other set of memories residing in their child's head, they knew better than anyone what was going on. They hadn't expected this talk to come so soon, naively hoping it could be put off and put off and maybe never even arrive. But that hadn't happened, and now it was here, as was yet another hard conversation with Tsunayoshi.

"Of course I am." Luce croons softly. "If that's what your heart says, and that's what you feel, then I'm your mother. I even have a pretty piece of paper that makes me your mother in the eyes of the law too."

"Then... who's my daddy?" Tsunayoshi asks, casting an eye over the males in the room. "I don't look like any of you."

The Arcobaleno look between each other, wondering who is going to be the bearer of bad news and start off this rather painful conversation. As much as he wanted to comfort the child, Bermuda knew this was not a conversation he could join in on. He had only learnt about Tsunayoshi's past once he had become a member of the household and he'd asked the exact same question. And as much as he'd like the title of figurative father, he had other obligations to attend to. He'd be better off as the wacky uncle instead.

"Tsunayoshi, there is something I need to clear up." Verde starts, pushing his glasses back up his nose before looking at the child. "In this world there are two different types of parents; ones that gave birth to you, and the ones you call by those names. For most people both names are given to the same people. But in some cases, they are given to different people. Certain circumstances mean children get separated from the people who gave birth to them and transfer the name to a different person who fulfils the same emotional and societal role. Take for example the Shimon children. They all know that Cozart is not their father, yet they still call him as such."

Tsunayoshi nodded, understanding the basic concept even if he didn't understand every word Verde had said. He didn't like where this conversation was heading though.

"The same thing is happening here Tsunayoshi." Colonnello continues, his voice strangely soft and quiet. "Luce wasn't the person who gave birth to you, but she is your mother because she did all the work of bringing you up and because you feel like she is. In the same way, none of us are your biological father- that's Verde's posh term for the people who gave birth to you- but that doesn't mean you can't call any of us daddy if you wanted to."

"It's just a name brat, there's no need to get so worried about it." Lal says brusquely, looking at the floor instead of Tsunayoshi.

"No one on the island cares because Mafia Families aren't made of people connected by the blood they share, but by how they feel about each other instead. It's called a family because they take care of each other." Fon explains, smiling at Tsunayoshi in a reassuring way. "We're a family because we care about each other, no matter how we show it." The invited laugh was answered by a small chuckle from Tsunayoshi- the Arcobaleno had a rather violent way of showing their love for each other after all.

"So what about those two people I keep seeing?" Tsunayoshi asks, still looking confused.

Finally Reborn steps forwards to stand before the child, looking down at him. "That lady is the one who brought you into this world, who gave birth to you, hence why you look like her instead of any of us. However Tsunayoshi," Reborn made sure they had eye contact, that the boy could see just how serious Reborn was. "She is dead."

The boy's eyes widen, and he looks at Reborn with a slightly unbelieving look, mouth open in surprise and shock.

"When you were just a baby, she was killed by some very bad men. When she tried to run from them, they got mad and killed her. I saw it happen Tsunayoshi, so I know it's true." Tsunayoshi's mouth shuts, lips pressing together as he took what Reborn was saying to heart. "It so happened that I was on a mission to kill those bad men at the time. And I did. I arrived too late to be able to save her though, she was already dead when I got there. After I had killed them, I heard a baby's cry, coming from her arms. I don't know why I did it, I'm not the type of person who would normally do so, but I brought the baby home. And that baby was you."

"It's the best thing Reborn-sempai ever did!" Skull exclaims from his position sat on the floor by Tsunayoshi's knees, grinning broadly in an effort to cheer Tsunayoshi up. "We don't know what we'd do without you Tsunayoshi." He rests his head on Tsunayoshi's knee, grinning when the boy ruffles his hair.

"But... what about the blond guy I keep seeing?" Tsunayoshi asks, looking up at Reborn. "I get the feeling I don't like him."

Bermuda watches the others and their reactions to that statement. Even he had heard about the Arcobaleno's trip to the CEDEF headquarters one day. No one had actually known why they went, they could only guess, but now Bermuda knew, and could see the curling of fists as the Arcobaleno remembered what had happened in that office room that day. But despite that, there were still confused and relieved looks at the second half of Tsunayoshi's statement.

"Do you recognise that man?" Verde asks, carefully.

"No." Tsunayoshi replies. "I don't usually see faces from these memories."

Knowing that could have been a relief, but to be honest it wasn't. This whole situation had started because Tsunayoshi didn't know who his biological father was, so edging around the subject and taking the easy way out wasn't going to help. Instead they were going to have to tell Tsunayoshi the cold hard truth.

Lal and Colonnello step forwards, drawing Tsunayoshi's eyes towards them whilst Reborn goes back to standing against the wall.

"Tsunayoshi, we know who your father is, he lives on the island in fact. When we realised this, we went to him to talk about who was going to keep you."

"The thing is, he told us he didn't want to keep you, kora. He was very upset because his wife had died and didn't want to be reminded of her." Part of it was a lie, but they weren't going to tell Tsunayoshi the full truth, the boy didn't need that burden of being blamed for his mother's death.

"That man was...Iemitsu from the CEDEF."

Tsunayoshi blinks and thinks about that, looking between the two occasional CEDEF members. A lot made sense now that he knew. The Arcobaleno had always told him to stay away from Iemitsu. Oregano and Basil did their best too.

And the memories of his first outing to the CEDEF house...

_"The age is right, the hair, the eyes," the man mumbles under his breath. He finally looks at Luce, "Is he… my Tsunayoshi?"_

_Huh?... His!_

_Tsunayoshi cuddles closer to Viper, feeling her grip on him tighten too. He didn't have a clue who this man was and he certainly wasn't going anywhere with him. He 'belonged' to the Arcobaleno, he never wanted to leave them._

_"According to our research, yes, he is." Luce quietly confirms, wanting to look away but knows she can't. But none of the Arcobaleno are ready for the expression that crosses the man's face._

_For it's one of anger._

"Oh... I understand." Tsunayoshi says. The Arcobaleno give him unbelieving and concerned evaluative looks, wondering if he really is okay about it all. "No really, I do. And I don't mind. Plus he's got Basil to look after." He looks between each of the Arcobaleno, giving them a shining smile that lights the room back up.

"I would rather be here anyway, because I love you all."

Tsunayoshi quickly finds himself buried under a collection of bodies and hugs, or just a hair ruffle or pat on the back in certain people's cases. As expected, Skull was already crying, with Luce well on her way. Tsunayoshi squeaked from his position somewhere in the middle. The only people he got dogpiled on like this by were the Shimon, and they weren't as heavy as the Arcobaleno.

"So do you feel better now Tsunayoshi?" Fon asks from somewhere infront of Tsunayoshi.

Their precious child nods. "Yup. Now I know what's going on, my head doesn't hurt anymore. Although all of you are currently squishing me. Not that I mind, but it would be nice to breathe every once in a while." The others laugh but stay where they are. Tsunayoshi tried everything he can think of to get them off, even doing Luce's ordering-clapping thing, but none of it works.

"What did I tell you brat, you're a hundred years too early to order us around." Reborn smirks.

However the others quickly relent after that; without Tsunayoshi trying to get away there wasn't much point and this kind of hug was quickly getting awkward.

After escaping, Tsunayoshi lays flat out on Viper's bed, panting since he could now finally breathe once more. He would need some time to think about what the Arcobaleno had just told him. After all, finding out that your real mother was dead and your dad didn't want you was a lot to take in. But at the moment he just wanted to get those worried looks off of the Arcobaleno's faces. He didn't like seeing those looks, everyone looked better when they were smiling. He should apologise for making them worry. And he knew the perfect way how.

When Tsunayoshi suddenly runs out of the bedroom and down the stairs, the Arcobaleno worry and dash off after him.

Only to find him with kitchen equipment all around him and covered in flour. Already. How he managed that in the 30 seconds he was out of their sights, they don't know.

"Wow, that's quite a mess, kora. What'cha doing?"

"Saying sorry."

"Ha. By making a mess for Luce to clean up? That'll only please her you know."

"No, it's a surprise."

"Tsunayoshi. _Darling_. What are you doing with that whisk? You know you're not allowed to use it unless I'm holding it too."

"Wahh! Tsunayoshi! She didn't mean for you to drop the whisk and use Verde's automatic mixer instead. That's even more dangerous!"

"What are you trying to say about my inventions?"

And as usual, it all devolved into one huge argument. Things (and people) got shot at, many objects would have hit the floor if not for Fon's fast reflexes, and a shouting match ensued that was quite possibly the loudest one to date in Tsunayoshi's opinion.

But eventually, an apology chocolate cake was made.

Somehow.

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><p><strong>Again, I apologise for the long wait and bad quality, hopefully the next chapter will be better. <strong>

**I'm not sure when the next chapter is coming out, this is my first week back at Uni so I'll need to settle a bit. But it won't be too long. My creativity is always at its best when I'm academically engaged. **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 24 September 2013**


	96. School is a Place

Chapter 96:

School is a place 

**Before we start a few things:**

**New Fanart Alert! Another one of my lovely reviewers drew a cute piece of fanart with Tsunayoshi in his bunny hoodie! It's adorable, so go take a look! Many thanks to Tsuki24!**

** gaara-fani. ****dev iant art art/ Bunny-Tsuna-D-403296184**

**My friend told me there's a fan out there that I need to say hi to, so here it is~: To the lovely Ms. Anna Bannana, thank you for reading MR and I hope you've been enjoying it, lots of luck~**

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><p>A few weeks has passed, and the incident hadn't been brought back up again. The next day his friends had fawned over Tsunayoshi more than usual, even Hana dropped her harsh tones. He assured them all he was fine, explaining that he and the Arcobaleno had 'had a talk' about it and left the matter as that. His friends thankfully didn't push for a better explanation. Nor, strangely enough, did his classmates. Although they looked a little more scared than usual, being rather wary around Hayato, Ken and Chikusa. Tsunayoshi had to wonder what his rather violent friends had done whilst he was away. At least there was still a classroom to return to, that was good.<p>

Today though…

Today is a very special day.

For it's the day a _lion_ comes to school.

Amongst a variety of other creatures.

Tsunayoshi happily hums in the car as they are taken to school, looking forwards to today. There were going to be lots of surprises, he just knew it.

"Nee, Hayato, please show meee~" Tsunayoshi whines, cuddling up to Hayato in the back seat of the car, putting on a pleading expression. Hayato blushes and stutters, looking away from Tsunayoshi and holding his school bag closer to his chest.

"I'm sorry Tsunayoshi-sama, but not until we get to school." The boy explains, feeling bad for denying Tsunayoshi something.

"Kufufufu, look at that, Hayato all embarrassed." Mukuro teases, a grin on his face. Hayato growls and retorts back, a small stick of dynamite coming from somewhere. Tsunayoshi is quick to take the stick off of Hayato before the bomb-fanatic can light it and blow up the inside of the car- Viper would NOT be happy at having to pay for a new car.

"So what about you guys, Ken, Chikusa?" Tsunayoshi asks, looking to his other side at Chikusa and over the other side to where Ken was sat. "Tell me what you brought~"

The pair of boys watch Tsunayoshi plead and beg with them, the puppy-dog eyes coming out at some point, as well as a quivering lip. Why did this boy have to be so damn adorable?

"How troublesome." Chikusa mutters, looking out of the window instead of at Tsunayoshi.

"I'm not telling! Nyeeh!" Ken shouts, pulling down his eyelid and sticking his tongue out at Tsunayoshi.

"Now now, would everyone please calm down? Hayato, how many times do I have to tell you no dynamite in the car?" Chides Fon, who was their driver for today.

The children apologise and settle down, Tsunayoshi still pouting. He didn't want to wait, he wanted to know now!

Eventually they arrive as school, and after saying goodbye to Fon, Tsunayoshi gets out of the car and skips towards his class. He was interested in what everyone else would bring with them today. Ooh, it was going to be so exciting!

Some members of the class turn to look at the door as it is opened, but find it strange when no one walks in. Instead, a small lion head peers around the doorframe and looks around the classroom. Some girls coo at the adorable little lion, which draws the attention of the rest of the class. The lion disappears for a few seconds before returning, waving one paw at the people watching. Then it disappears again.

"GAAO!" Tsunayoshi growls as he jumps into the classroom, lion held high, a massive grin on his face.

There is a collective high pitched squeal from most of the girl population of the class and in less than five seconds Tsunayoshi finds himself under a pile of squealing girls who are determined to coo at and nuzzle not only Natsu but him as well. Tsunayoshi couldn't help but laugh at their enthusiasm and show of affection.

"_Maa Maa_, what's going on here then?"

"_Hahi_! What have we missed?"

"Maybe someone brought in something extra cute?"

That was Takeshi, Haru and Kyoko, standing at the entrance of the classroom, looking at the rather loud pile of girls on the floor just inside the doorway.

"_Heeii_! Can you all get off me please? Natsu can't breathe."

The trio look at each other, realising just who was under the pile of girls. They had better save him. Quick.

"Good morning everyone!" Takeshi says extra loudly, making sure he was noticed. Some of the pile of girls stop and look up, before clambering off to go stand around the sporty male.

Who himself was looking cute with a small plush bird sat on his shoulder and a dog tucked under his arm, as well as something strapped to his back in a case. The girls smile and wish him a good morning before commenting about the items he was carrying.

In the meanwhile, Haru and Kyoko look at each other before smiling (possibly too broadly) and starting to worm their way through the crowd and divest Tsunayoshi of his fans. And it wasn't either of their faults if a few girls shouted out because of needle pricks or harsh pinches to sensitive muscles. Both girls had been taught about 'stranger danger' by their mothers- all the more important considering the type of people they lived with- and had been taught a few self defence techniques.

Eventually the pile dissipates as the girls lose interest or leave because of injury, and finally Tsunayoshi has clean air to breathe. Haru and Kyoko smile at him and help him straighten out his clothes and pat his hair back down, so that he looks presentable once more.

"_Haah_… thank… thank you." Tsunayoshi pants, collecting his breath- those girls had been _heavy_.

"No problem~" The girls chorus, smiling brightly and looking cute despite the tiny act of violence they've just committed to protect _Their_ little cutie.

Tsunayoshi smiles back before taking a few moments to check on Natsu and to sort his fur back into some semblance of normalcy.

"_Aah_, so Tsunayoshi brought Natsu. It's no wonder the girls did that, desu~" Haru claims, Kyoko nodding along. They both knew how devastatingly cute Tsunayoshi was along with Natsu as his 'lovely item'.

"Yup," Tsunayoshi beams, hugging Natsu tightly as he and the girls walked towards their desks. At some time during his rescue and their conversation, most of their friends had arrived and were now sitting at their desks. But before he can talk to the others and ask them (using Reborn's super-secret interrogation techniques!) what they had brought with them, the teacher enters the room and calls for quiet. They go through the usual boring stuff, news updates, the register and such, before they can finally start homeroom.

"So then class, I asked everyone to bring in something that was either precious or important to them. I can see quite a few items out on desks already, but for those who haven't," And here she looked over at Tsunayoshi's side of the room for some reason, "please get them out now."

She had had a talk with the Mafia-born students and reminded them not to bring in any weapons, or something that a normal person wouldn't have on them. Not that she was expecting any students to bring guns or the like to school, hoping that their families weren't the type to use child-hitmen, but you could never tell these days. Taking a look around the room she breaths a mental sigh of relief since it seems like all of the students have followed her wishes, bringing with them toys or pieces of clothes or blankets.

"_Eep_!"

If she had to take a guess she would have said that voice belonged to the silver–haired Hayato, but that couldn't be right, because Hayato didn't make noises like that, instead growling at anyone who came near, unless it was Tsunayoshi.

Except that her guess was correct.

It was a look she had never seen on the usually scowling boy's face. He was blushing, looking as embarrassed as could be, yet as happy as if he were in heaven. A strange look indeed, especially when half his face was hidden under the little boy who was determined to hug Hayato to death.

"Tsunayoshi, let Hayato go, he's going to faint if you keep squeezing him like that." The teacher says, voice raised to be heard over Tsunayoshi's squealing. The pair's friends laugh at her comment, deciding that if Hayato was going to faint, it wouldn't be from the hug itself, but from the idea that he'd gotten such affection from 'Tsunayoshi-sama' in the first place.

Tsunayoshi looks up owlishly and then takes a better look at Hayato, who seemed to be in a half conscious daze mumbling, "Tsunayoshi-sama is hugging me. Tsunayoshi-sama is _hugging _me Tsunayoshi-sama is hugging _me.". _Tsunayoshi lets out a small giggle over Hayato's antics, he was being ever endearing as usual.

But then something else catches his eye, and before the teacher can tell Tsunayoshi to get off Hayato and return to his seat, he's already gone, instead hugging Takeshi to death.

"Oi, you'd better not come to us next," Ken growls, bearing his teeth in a disgusted and threatening way. "You're giving out 'Luce Hugs', byon." His preferred term was the hug of doom.

Chikusa sighs at Ken, the silly mutt should have known better. Now he had attracted Tsunayoshi's attention whilst not having hidden what he'd brought with him today. The result is wide sparkling doe eyes, Tsunayoshi leaping over Takeshi to land on Ken's desk and give him the hug Ken was trying not to receive. The way Ken fought the grip, hissing and clawing, reminded Chikusa of whenever they tried to get Ken to take a bath, or indeed most felines when brought near water.

Chikusa would make sure to tell Mukuro and Chrome about this later and watch Ken blush and squirm under Mukuro's amused gaze.

When the same doe eyes turn to him and the item he had brought along, Chikusa just holds his arms open, a look of boredom on his face as usual. He knew from experience with both Luce and Tsunayoshi that things went quicker if he gave up and accepted the show of affection. It may not be to his liking, but he appreciated the gesture. It was incredibly warm, something the Estraneo children had been starved of for a very long time.

"So troublesome." He grumbles for only Tsunayoshi to hear. The boy giggles once more before climbing off.

In actuality Tsunayoshi had been hauled off by the teacher who had had enough of Tsunayoshi's misbehaviour. She had no clue why Tsunayoshi was acting like this, but it was time he stopped. Tsunayoshi's friends were already getting jealous stares as it was. She hefts Tsunayoshi onto her hip with the intent to put him back in his chair by force. But something _else_ had caught Tsunayoshi's eye from this higher vantage point, and the boy managed to tumble out of her grip with surprising dexterity before tackling the pair of boys sat at the front with yet another squealing hug.

By now the class was laughing at Tsunayoshi and the blushes his victims had on their faces. The teacher herself couldn't help but smile, even if she wanted to get on with the lesson already. There were guesses at who was going to be the next casualty, along with who had the best reactions to getting leaped on by the excitable child. By the time Tsunayoshi had stopped, practically all of his friends had been attacked with the exception of the ones he had made at school.

Although the excited chatter quickly drew to a close when the sound of sobbing filled the air.

For Tsunayoshi was crying.

In most instances of Tsunayoshi crying, his friends would have been around him in an instant, and whoever had caused the crying would be getting a firm talking to that confirmed to the teacher they were all Mafia students and not the innocent civilians she'd hope they had been. However instead, all those who had been pounced upon were softly smiling at Tsunayoshi with a look of loving care that said they had seen this type of crying before and were not surprised by it.

Tsunayoshi brings his knees up to his chest, Natsu squeezed between, crying into the lion's fluffy mane, feeling incredibly guilty. "I… I should'a… have… have brought things from… you guys… tooooo!" He sobbed between choking breaths and a runny nose.

Kyoko stands from her seat and walks over to Tsunayoshi, pulling his face up and wiping away his tears. "It's okay Tsunayoshi. We all know how important Natsu is to you. And if you'd brought something from each of us, you wouldn't be able to carry it all." Tsunayoshi sniffs and gives a faltering laugh at the picture of himself carrying so much stuff. "So just smile for us like you do at home or else Hayato is going to have a panic attack." Tsunayoshi looks over and sees that Hayato is indeed worrying over his wellbeing like usual. That, along with the feeling that if he cried any longer Reborn would show up (Reborn always managed to walk into the class as the Dean at just the right moment to see Tsunayoshi either get something wrong or embarrass himself), made him stop crying and attempt the smile Kyoko wanted. It wasn't perfect but it was close enough.

Kyoko smiles in return before sitting back at her seat. "Everything's fine now Sensei. You can start the lesson now."

The teacher nods hesitantly, but it did seem like Tsunayoshi was cheering up once again. She still had no clue why the child had burst into tears in the first place. Maybe she should ask some of his friends after class. She didn't want a repeat happening.

"Now that everyone is settled," She starts, drawing the class's attention back to the topic of today, "I believe it's best we start now. So who wants to go first?"

The class take it in turns to explain what the item was and why it was important to them. As the lesson goes on, it soon becomes clear to the teacher why Tsunayoshi had gotten excited by the items his friends had brought and why he had burst into tears over them. They had been sentimental happy tears.

Tsunayoshi couldn't help but blush at how many times his name was mentioned. He would have liked to hear about the other members of the class too, but the problem was he was getting another headache. There were pictures and voices in his memory again, although all of it seemed to be happy memories rather than scary ones.

"This is the first piece of robotics we have done without Verde's help. Tsunayoshi was there to help us and tell us to keep going when we thought we couldn't do it."

"_You guys have been in here for three weeks straight! If you don't finish it by dinner tonight, I'm coming down there and dragging the both of you out. We can wait a little longer for moe-neko-robot-maids for heaven's sake!" _

"This is the first piece of cosplay that Tsunayoshi and I made together desu~. See, isn't the cake bracelet pretty?"

"_Sky! Sky! Look! Haru won first place in the international cosplay competition. And guess who was the key judge?! It was Lord Restitch! See I've got a photo here!" _

"Tsunayoshi fell out of a tree getting this flower for me. Onii-san was there to catch him, although he had been the one to bait Tsunayoshi into getting the flower for me in the first place. I gave them a really long telling off after that."

"_I'm sorry, I missed Self-Appreciation Day when I promised that I would come. I hope you two got the cake that I sent you both?... Guys please don't be mad at me… I picked these flowers just for you, see, I've even got the mud on my shoes to prove it!... Forgive me?" _

"Tsunayoshi gave me this beanie, it was my first ever present after getting released."

"_You know, it's always amazed me how as a whole, you guys are very conscious about your image. I'd hate to think how early in the morning you guys get up at to fix your hair. And talking of hair, you guys know that you spend more on hair care products than the Japanese branch as a whole, right?"_

"This is the wrapper of the first bit of bubblegum I ever ate. Tsunayoshi gave it to me since he said Skull had brought too much of it back from his trip."

"_I don't know why you are complaining to me, it's not my fault you brought out this store's entire supply of bubblegum and then ate it all. Getting new stock in takes time you know. Maybe you should learn the virtue of pacing yourself. Gluttony and greed are sins for a reason… Wait… why are they out of vanilla cream wafers?! I need some of it now, damnit! Oi, stop laughing at me, at least I can go home and get the girls to make me some instead, so there!"_

"Umm… this is the box for all the plasters Tsunayoshi and I went through… when playing at my house… ah, for the first time…"

"_HEEII! Oof. Damn, this cliff never gets any easier to climb no matter how many times I try. Are you okay? HEEII! You're bleeding. Oh god, where is the first aid kit?!... What do you mean you left it at the top?!"_

"This is Jirou and Kojirou and Tsunayoshi gave them to me when we first became friends. They're my good luck charms, haha~! And this here is my lucky bat that my pops gave me. I'm gonna be the best player in the world with this bat!"

"_Hahaa~ wow that was a great hit! I've never seen you hit the ball that far before. Hey, Jirou, go fetch!"_

"This is Uri. Tsunayoshi-sama gave her to me to cheer me up after I found out the truth about my mother."

"_For heaven's sake you god-blasted cat! Stop interrupting me. I can't play the piano with you playing whatever the hell you feel like. If you're going to play a note then at least make it in time with the music!"_

"These are the masks we were wearing when we won the Cervello Hide and Seek Battle Royale for the first time ever as part of a three man team with Tsunayoshi-sama."

"_We declare you as the loser. As the rules state, the loser must now wander around the party in nothing but this special underwear prepared by Reborn-sama." _

When his name is called to go next, Tsunayoshi shakes his head to clear the moment and smiles brightly at the teacher. There is no sign that he had been crying, the boy looking as perky as usual. He holds the toy lion up to his face and nuzzles it lovingly, the adoration clear in his eyes for all to see. The image makes some girls sigh or squeal.

"Heh, he brought a kitty cat to class? How girly." Scoffed a male student.

Tsunayoshi pouts and holds Natsu closer. "That's not a very nice thing to say." He admonishes. "I don't care what you say, Natsu is very special to me. It doesn't matter what you say about him."

The boy shuts up, suddenly not so courageous when he notices over three-quarters of the class glaring at him.

"This is Natsu." Tsunayoshi starts, making the lion wave his paw. Many of the class waved back. "I've had him for a very long time now. I remember wanting a pet of my own since everyone at home had one, but I was too young for a real pet and scared of animals other than the ones they had. So they decided to get me a toy one I could carry everywhere instead. When I saw Natsu in a store I knew I had to have him. It kinda… felt like we were supposed to be together. I had the same feelings with the other toys there and cried until the others got them for me. Eventually I realised who they were for since that just felt 'right' too. I feel stronger and braver when Natsu is around and he keeps me company when everyone else is too busy working. Sometimes when I dream, I dream he's a real lion that helps me to fight evil! His roar is so scary that the bad guys can't even move afterwards! It's as if they've turned to stone!"

To demonstrate, Tsunayoshi make Natsu bounce forwards and shake his head as if he was a big strong lion roaring, adding in the suitable sound effects. "ROAR!" The noise would not have been fear-inducing to anyone other than the Vendice, who would worry once again that the boy's sweetness was going to rot through their bones.

The class laugh and burst into giggles, the odd person roaring back at Natsu to show they weren't afraid and could do it better.

"RROOOAAARR!"

Silence falls immediately at the extremely loud and very scary lion's roar. Everyone's gaze turns to Fran who seemed to be the source. Tsunayoshi swore he saw a miniature lion sat on Fran's desk for a second.

Oh, that's right. Tsunayoshi was going to take Fran home with him today. He'd almost forgotten in the excitement of bringing Natsu to school.

It was time Fran actually learnt a lesson~

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><p><strong>This is actually only half the chapter. But the rest takes a very different turn so I decided to split them up. I wanted to keep this chapter cute and fluffy. <strong>

**So look forwards to the next chapter where something 'interesting' happens between Viper and Fran~**

**I hope everyone had a great Christmas! And thank you to everyone who participated in the Secret Santa this year. **

**I'll see you soon for the next update~ **

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 26 December 2013**


	97. To be proud of yourself

Chapter 97

To be proud of yourself

**For all of those who said you were about to die from Tsunayoshi's cuteness, may this chapter sober you up. **

**This is the 4th version of this chapter I wrote due to getting this plot point to fit into the MR and KRH world correctly, which is part of the reason it took so long. **

**Many thanks to Erephen for being my soundboard, beta and moral support. **

**And here's a shout out to **_**Tian Kong Shang De Cai SeHippo~ **_**Thank you for reading MR and lots of luck!**

**I had loads of reviews from names I didn't recognise this time. So to all the newbies: Welcome to Mafia Row!**

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><p>"Okay, you can open your eyes now. We're not allowed to tell outsiders where our home is because it's super secret private!"<p>

There would be a disaster after all if the public found out what Mafia Row was, who lived on it, and most importantly, where it currently was. So they had had to blindfold Fran the whole way here, whilst listening to flat remarks about child kidnapping, how wrong it was, and whether this was how they had found someone as cute as Tsunayoshi to live with. Luckily Fon was their designated driver once again, or else Fran might not have even made it to Mafia Row to start with. Fon just smiled and listened, making odd comments here and there.

The same could not be said of the other occupants of the car. Mukuro and Hayato especially were ready to kill Fran if he made one more comment, with Ken shouting all of the terrible things they could do to Fran (and being a child of the Estraneo, they were truly terrible things to wish upon a human being). Luckily enough, Tsunayoshi had pinned Fran into the corner of the car, so he was bodily in the way, stopping any attacks. Eventually, Mukuro just placed an illusion on everyone to block out the annoying boy's voice.

But now they were in the COMSUBIN training grounds, just Fran, Tsunayoshi and Fon. The others had gone home for the day, dismissed away from the lesson. Mukuro wasn't keen on Fran anyway and was glad to leave the brat alone. The training grounds had been chosen for privacy. The blindfold hadn't been removed until they had arrived at the training grounds, meaning that Fran couldn't see into any of the houses in case he was a spy or something of the like.

Conversely, none of the residents of Mafia Row would be freaked out to see strange things appear from nowhere when the illusion training began. Untrained illusionists could possibly turn those around them mad or crazy, so the fewer people around the better. It was better for the training to happen here, on Mafia Row, instead of in the normal world, since if they were caught, people knew what an illusionist was. There would be no cries of magic, or TV special effects, no attention grabbing and no interruptions.

Tsunayoshi pulled Fran over to where Viper was waiting, a smile on his face over seeing her again. "Hello Mammon! Did you have fun with the Varia?"

Viper turned from where she was watching the COMSUBIN training down on the beach to look at Tsunayoshi. "It was a nice warm up," She commented. "Easy money too."

Tsunayoshi giggled. "That's good then!" Viper liked making money quickly and easily after all and the Varia were some of her biggest income, along with her information brokering. "This is the boy I was telling you about. The one we think is an illusionist like you."

"You mean the one you are paying me to teach?" She replied, earning another giggle from the child. Tsunayoshi had no clue how large his debt to Viper was by this point in time, but he didn't really care.

She then turned her attention to the other boy. Who was wearing a strange hat in the shape of an apple, rough and run down clothes, covered in scratches and bruises, dulled eyes and…

_Who was an enemy. _

"So you're my teacher, huh? I was expecting someone in a wizard costume. Although I suppose this isn't much different." Fran commented dryly, looking Viper up and down, ducking slightly to try and see under her hood. "My name is F-"

"I don't want to know your name!" Viper said, taking a few shaking steps backwards away from that boy.

Tsunayoshi looked concerned, stepping closer to Viper. "Mammon, are you okay?" He asked softly. It was rare for her to act like this.

"I won't teach him Tsunayoshi. Not him." She replied, her voice quivering, taking yet another step backwards. Fran just stood there in confusion, wondering whether this was yet _another_ attack by his long running streak of bad luck.

Tsunayoshi too looked confused. Viper hadn't had a problem when he had asked her earlier, and it wasn't like Fran was her first student, she had taught Mukuro and Chrome with no problems. "But why not?"

"He's deceiving you Tsunayoshi. I bet he's already well versed in illusions." She practically spat.

"I'm not actually." Fran interrupted. "I don't even know I'm doing them most of the time. Here, see."

But before Fran could do anything, Viper had run, picking up Tsunayoshi as she went and heading in the direction of the forest.

'_No, not now, not here. I thought I was safe here. How silly that thought was.'_

Where would be the best place to hide? Back with the Varia? Back at the Arcobaleno House? She couldn't even remember who was supposed to be there and who was out on missions. The Vendicare maybe? They'd at least protect Tsunayoshi.

"Viper, what's wrong?" Tsunayoshi pleaded, nothing making sense to him at all. Why did Viper not like Fran?

"You need to be quiet, if he finds us he'll probably kill us." Viper hissed, ducking under some branches and running through some bushes.

Kill them? Fran? Hmm… Tsunayoshi wasn't sure about that one. His feelings said the boy could, but was nothing Viper couldn't handle. But then again, he had never seen Viper like this before; she obviously knew something that Tsunayoshi didn't.

'_I won't give them the satisfaction of having me killed. They won't ruin the life I've built for myself. But why now of all times?'_

There was a crack of a broken branch, Viper whirling around at the sound.

"Is this part of the training? Because I don't understand it." It was Fran, standing a few metres away.

Viper growled, refusing to listen to the boy. Instead she conjured up a hell hound and sent it running after their pursuer. The hound howled long and loud, terrifying to all who heard it, saliva dripping from its maw, red eyes fixed on its prey.

Tsunayoshi skittered backwards a few steps at the sudden appearance of the beast, before being pulled in the opposite direction by Viper. They continued their run through the forest, every now and again having to dodge the traps the COMSUBIN had put there as training and defence.

"Viper, stop!" Tsunayoshi shouted, pulling Viper to a halt before she could fall into one of the pitfall traps hidden under the leaves. He took the time to try and catch his breath, although he didn't let go of Viper's hand; he was afraid she'd run off again if he did. "Viper… what's going on?" He panted, looking up at her.

"That's what I'd like to know." Said a voice from above. The pair tensed until they realised that it was Lal, the teacher jumping down to land in front of them. "There's a child running around unattended. I nearly shot him before I remembered you were doing a lesson out here."

"Setting a hell hound on the boy is a little much though." Colonnello commented, having followed Lal to investigate the howl from earlier. "Unless you're giving him the Spartan treatment, kora?!" The Spartan method was the best after all.

"It wasn't harsh enough. The boy needs to die. I need to get away from here." Viper muttered, looking around to check the boy wasn't nearby. Where could she go that they wouldn't find her? Maybe somewhere in India this time? Or maybe South America? She had contacts over there that could hide her.

"Kill him? Is he that bad a student? I didn't think you'd taught him anything yet." Colonnello laughed, although turned serious when he realised Viper wasn't reacting like usual- no head shake or rolling eyes over his humour. "Wait, you're actually serious, kora?"

"Of course I'm serious." Viper snapped. She shouldn't be wasting time here on idle chitchat.

There was another rustling of bushes nearby, causing Viper to tense and ready some illusionary knives.

"Ah ha! There you all are. I thought I was never going to find you all in here." Luce sang as she entered the clearing where the others were. "What's everyone so serious about?"

"Maybe Lal wants her students to face an army of Hell's Denizens. Would explain the hell hound chasing that boy through the woods." Reborn suggested with a smirk on his face, having been escorting Luce here.

"Nah, Viper just wants to kill her student." Colonnello explains offhandedly.

"Che, haven't we all been there? I'm surprised Lal hasn't killed you yet." Reborn replied, looking down at Colonnello. The soldier growled, but before yet another fight could start, Luce interrupted.

"Viper sweetie, what's wrong? You're shaking." She asked in concern, walking closer to Viper to grab her other hand.

Viper continued to look around warily, and it was only Tsunayoshi's and Luce's hands that were keeping her here rather than running. "Luce, I _need_ to go. Somewhere far from here."

Luce frowned. "Viper, you promised to warn me before you ran off again."

"But Luce, it's _Them._" Viper pleaded, trying to get the women to understand.

Luce blinked, partly in shock and partly in understanding. "Really? I thought I would have Seen that happening." She commented, referring to her visions. She hadn't had one for a while now.

"Them? Who's 'them'? We'd like an explanation of what's going on." Lal growled, not liking being out of the loop.

Luce nodded and looked back at Viper. "Viper, I really think you should tell the others. How long have you been living with us? How many times have we saved your life? You know you can trust the others. They'll keep you safe so you don't have to worry any longer. We won't let them get you dear, I promise."

Viper's hesitation was clear. It had always been her first instinct to run when the odds weren't in her favour. She didn't like being trapped or losing. But then again, if they found her _here_ of all places, then was there anywhere else she could run? The Arcobaleno House was quite literally the safest place in the world. If she was going to stay and be safe anywhere, that was the place. She knew that. And… she couldn't leave Tsunayoshi behind. Not after all this time together. Loyalty was not her thing, but for him…?

Viper sighed. "Alright then. But I want the boy captured and tied up."

Luce smiled in relief- looked like she wouldn't have to go chasing Viper all over the world again. She could be hard to find when she wanted to be. "I think we can manage that dear. Just make sure your little puppy doesn't attack us."

* * *

><p>This is how the entirety of the Arcobaleno ended up sitting in the shade of the trees less than an hour later, Fran sat next to Bermuda, wrapped up in chains.<p>

"Did we really have to do this outside?" Verde grumbled, trying to find a comfortable way to sit on the bare floor. He'd rather be sat in his laboratory, he had experiments to be doing after all, but Luce had insisted, in the particular way Verde had long recognised meant he couldn't refuse.

"It's not like we could take the boy anywhere on the Island, especially if he really is who Viper believes him to be." Luce smiled, handing out drinks and cookies from her picnic basket. Sure they were doing an interrogation, but it was on a poor little boy who hadn't done anything wrong yet, so Luce would rather make the atmosphere less oppressive. Plus it was a beautiful day outside and it would be a shame to waste it.

Skull leaned forwards, light glinting off his helmet. "Heh, if you think you can do anything to Mammon, you've got another thing commin' boy. You'll never get through the great Skull-sama!" Skull was sure that none of the Arcobaleno would let anyone hurt Viper.

"Indeed Skull, but I believe we need to understand a little more before we go condemning a child. Hastiness leads to mistakes." Fon commented, pushing Skull back, away from the child.

Tsunayoshi wasn't really sure what to make of any of this, things had gotten strange and confusing and he didn't understand any of it. But Viper must have a good reason for this. So he'd stay quiet until he finally understood why it seemed Fran was in trouble. He knew Fran got in trouble a lot, but he hadn't done anything this time, and Viper wouldn't be offended by the wizard comment.

"Tsunayoshi," Viper said, as all attention rested on her. "You've always wanted to know why I'd never let you get tattoos like those under my eyes, right?"

Tsunayoshi nodded. He'd always wanted those triangle tattoos under his eyes so he could be like Viper, but everyone had always said no. He'd even offered to get them somewhere other than under his eyes, but everyone still denied him. Even the puppy eyes hadn't worked! Nor was he allowed to get Luce's, Skull's or Fon's tattoos either. He had pouted all day until Luce finally drew on his face with her eyeliner.

The question confused him, until Viper prompted him to look at Fran.

Who also had the same tattoos under his eyes.

Tsunayoshi had noticed them of course, and automatically thought of Viper, it was one of the reasons he had become friends with Fran. But he had never thought they actually meant something… something bad apparently. If they had the same tattoo then shouldn't they be friends? Or maybe Family- that was why Luce and Aria had the same tattoo under their eye.

"They're the same…" Tsunayoshi mumbled, looking back up at Viper.

"Yes, they are. It has something to do with my past." Viper replied, looking back at Tsunayoshi. Luce was the only person she had ever told, and that was only because Luce had confronted her about it first due to her visions. It would be easier to tell this to Tsunayoshi than the others. Tsunayoshi wasn't going to judge her for her past. The others might.

"But we know your past, kora. You and Reborn were found and trained by Nono, right?" Interrupted Colonnello. That fact was no secret, even though it wasn't talked about much.

Reborn shook his head. "No, it's from before then. She already had the tattoos the first time I met her."

Viper nodded. "Yes. I've had these marks ever since I showed the aptitude to be an extraordinary Illusionist. I was three at the time, so I don't really remember much about it. These marks prove that I'm part of the _Serpentis Noctem_."

The atmosphere grew heavy and serious. The Arcobaleno knew exactly who they were. Dangerous and incredibly powerful. An underground, power-hungry cult that was rumoured to have large influences in most of the giant corporations of the world. No one knew much about them, although in the Mafia there were whispers that this cult was made up entirely of illusionists. Viper being a member, or ex-member, explained quite a few things about her.

"I have many of their rogue agents in the Antarctica Ice Prison, forced into sleep. Our research on them gives some interesting results." Bermuda explained offhandedly.

"Umm… who are they?" Tsunayoshi asked, concerned by the Arcobaleno's reactions.

Viper shook her head. "You wouldn't understand Tsunayoshi. Let's just say that they aren't very nice people, and that they have more influence and power than even the Vongola."

Tsunayoshi gaped. Even at his young age he knew how powerful Vongola was, and always has been. Even though they told him he wouldn't understand, Tsunayoshi trusted the judgement of the Arcobaleno unconditionally. If they didn't like these people, then neither did he.

"And Fran is one of these bad people?" Tsunayoshi asked, wondering whether he'd need to reconsider his friendship with the boy. He liked Fran, but if Fran was going to hurt Viper, then he wouldn't like Fran anymore. She was too important to him.

All eyes turned to the child who was still in Bermuda's hold.

"Fran, huh? The name fits. From the Latin frángere, meaning to break, shatter, fracture." Viper recited.

See, Verde knew Latin for all his sciency biology magic and Viper knew Latin for all her witchy magic spells~

"It wouldn't surprise me if they sent a child after you. But he'd have to be strong if they thought he could defeat you." Reborn suggested.

"Yeah! It's not possible for a mere child to beat you Mammon!" Skull loudly agreed before getting kicked in the stomach by Colonnello.

"But Fran can't do illusions," Tsunayoshi mumbled quietly. "That's why I came to you." Luce smiled and patted his knee comfortingly. They weren't saying Tsunayoshi was lying, but might have been tricked.

"Let us see what the boy has to say about this." Fon suggested. "We would be able to tell if he is lying to us after all and Bermuda's Flames will dampen any illusions he tries to do."

The others nodded and readied their weapons just in case. Slowly Bermuda unwrapped his chains from the boy. "**Speak, boy."** He ordered in his cold scary boss-voice.

"Ahh, what a scary bunch of people. I was expecting the boy who's too cute to be male to have cute parents, not wolves. Just my luck. Well at least that makes it 666 times now, wonder what will happen next?" Fran sighed, playing with an object under his shirt to calm himself.

That comment made Viper pause. Those numbers made a strange bit of sense. Could it be…? "What are you hiding under your shirt?" Viper asked.

When the boy didn't act quick enough, Lal leaned over and yanked on the chain, pulling an object out from under Fran's shirt.

Viper breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's fine. He's not with the _Serpentis Noctem_."

'_Now I won't have to run. I didn't think I had done anything recently to cause their wrath.'_

"What?! But you were sure a minute ago!" Skull cried. Was the boy an enemy or not? How did a ring make a blind bit of difference? Was everyone just playing a joke on him?

"Poor child." Luce frowned. "To be stuck with a Hell Ring at such a young age."

"Whilst the _Serpentis Noctem_ are powerful, even they wouldn't mess with a Hell Ring. They care for their skins too much to deal with the negative effects. We were banned from wearing them." Viper explained. "It's punishable by death."

"That's probably what happened to my parents then." Fran commented, voice still flat despite talking about the death of his parents.

"Your parents were killed?" Asks Luce softly, handing the boy a drink and a cookie now that it seemed he wasn't an enemy after all.

Viper, however, wasn't going to act so nicely. Just because the boy had a Hell Ring didn't mean he was entirely friendly. He could be an exile like her, but a loyal one. Children were easy to condition after all, and if his parents had been loyal then the brat might not know any other way.

"That's what I said. My mother got me to a friend of hers before she was killed though. I was a baby at the time so I don't remember, but apparently the ring was left in the crib with me. Since then I've moved from relative to relative. No one seems to like me and thinks I'm possessed because I say weird things or weird things happen around me. So when they got too scared, they'd send me to someone else. Although your Chibi-chan there seems to think the strange things were because I'm an untrained whatever-he-said."

"Yeah!" Tsunayoshi shouts, finally smiling once more. He was glad that Fran wasn't an enemy, although Viper still didn't seem entirely happy. He'd have to do something nice for her later, and give her lots of cuddles. "Like I said, Fran does illusions without realising. I saw it when- huh?"

Tsunayoshi stopped when he heard some snuffling from outside their circle. Climbing over Colonnello, he saw that it was Basil, wiping glittering eyes.

"Thy tale is a sad one Fran. One so young should not endure such hardship." Basil said, walking up to where Colonnello and Lal were. "Lady Lal, Master wished me to hand thee this. Thou wast not answering thy phone." Basil handed over some files, which looked suspiciously like orders.

"Ah, so the lost time traveller also lives here. What a surprise." Fran said, waving at the boy.

"Isn't Iemitsu mean, making you come all the way out here just for that." Luce smiled. "Here, have a cookie." Basil blushed and accepted the cookie.

"It was not a problem, Lady Luce." He replied, bowing. He then paused for a moment, eyes flicking between her and where Fran was. "If One may be so bold Lady Luce, but what will thee do with Fran?"

Luce hummed, a finger to her lips. "I don't know. It seems rather mean to send him back to an unloving family, especially now that we know."

Reborn sighed, here she went again, messing with everyone's personal lives. "He is not staying with us. In case you've forgotten, Lancia has enough misfits to take care of and I doubt he or Verde would be happy having a Hell Ring near Fuuta."

"Umm… I may have a solution…" Basil said, daring to interrupt the Arcobaleno's conversation. "Master was complaining the other day that the CEDEF did not have an Illusionist on the staff, yet that Lady Mammon's fees were too high to pay regularly. Very few Illusionists are of the Lady's calibre after all. However, Master may settle for one trained by the Lady. If he were to live with the CEDEF then Fran would be close enough for thy lessons, Lady Mammon."

Those lessons weren't going to start straight away- members of the CEDEF had enough anti-illusionist training to survive whatever the little brat threw at them accidentally. Viper had to investigate the boy first, thoroughly. Extremely thoroughly. Whether his past was actually as he said it was. Whether he, or any of his previous foster families had contact with the _Serpentis Noctem_. She wouldn't teach him until she knew it was entirely safe to do so. Iemitsu would have to be warned of the possibility too, and keep a tight eye on the child.

"But what about the Hell Ring?" Colonnello asked suspiciously.

Basil tilted his head. "I am not aware of the Ring's effects, I am afraid to say."

"According to my research, Fran's one in particular inspires bad luck as a passive effect. However when the Ring causes good luck, it is of much larger and worthwhile proportions." Verde reported, pushing his glasses up his nose. Viper nodded in agreement.

"Well, I dost not see a problem with bad luck and I doubt Master will have one either." Basil said, smiling. The Master was a calm and caring person after all, he'd probably find a way to make light of whatever actions the bad luck caused.

"What do you think of that Fran?" Luce asked, smiling sweetly at the boy. Luce loved it when everything had a happy ending. Even with her visions, happy ends were not always easy to obtain.

Fran shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. "I don't really care. Although not being screamed at sounds better. I just want these lessons so I can go around scaring people for real. And to get back at the Pineapple-sempai for insulting me." He'd been swapped from family to family too many times to care where he went any more. What was one more? Especially one with such benefits. And the people here seemed interesting, especially Tsunayoshi and his 'parents'. Just how many parents did one person need, anyway?

"Is Fran free to leave with me? I would like to discuss this with my Master first." Basil said, smiling encouragingly at Fran. He had taken a liking to Fran whilst at school, and after hearing about his past, now understood the boy's demeanour better. He felt sorry for Fran, and wanted to help in any way he could. Whist getting an illusionist was not Basil's objective it was sure to sugar and smooth things over with the Master.

"He's all yours." Reborn said, standing. "I've had enough of this whole issue." And with that he walked off back into the forest. As long as the brat wasn't going to end up within the grounds of their house, Reborn couldn't care less. He wouldn't be the one to train Fran so what happened was none of his business.

Luce just giggled and turned back to Fran. "You're free to go with Basil here, or we can take you home, which ever you want." She wasn't going to pressure the boy into something he didn't want.

Fran stood up without answering and walked over to Basil, grabbing the back of his shirt and dragging Basil along, towards the forest where it seemed the exit was.

Basil gasped and tried to walk backwards. Eventually Basil managed to break Fran's grip and quickly bowed to Luce. "Good-bye Lady Luce, Tsunayoshi, Arcobaleno." He turned and chased after Fran. "Fran! You have to say good-bye to Lady Luce. It's imperative." Everyone had to be courteous to Luce, or else really bad things happened. It was practically an unwritten law on the island.

"Yeah, bye." Fran said out of reflex, more concentrating on his next question. "So lost time traveller, do you like in a castle? Or maybe a cave?"

Fran was so busy asking his questions, he never noticed the Hell Ring glow under his shirt.

**Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Let's hope that I can get the next one out quicker XD. Basil and Fran became friends a few chapters ago purely for this, and to get him into the CEDEF House. Like I said, I want to mix up some of the relationships and this is one of them. **

**Lots of luck to everyone taking important exams in the next few months! Cute little Tsunayoshi will be cheering you on~. And if you're really nice, Verde might help you study. Or you can bribe Viper into finding the answers for you XD (assuming you've got the money to pay her of course)**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published: 08 May 2014**


	98. And Do Some Growing Up

**Chapter 98- And Do Some Growing Up.**

**The main theme of this chapter was a request from someone, but I can't remember who and my notes don't say- so sorry about that. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the cuteness! And prepare for a Fangirl!Luce running around the place XD She decided to not listen to the title of this chapter XP**

**Easter egg in here too- make sure to tell me if you spot it! (Not hard to miss honestly unless you've never seen the show of course).**

* * *

><p>"<em>Luce, get down from there…" Reborn sighed.<em>

_Luce, however, wasn't listening._

"_Target distance: 400 metres… 405…410…"_

"_You can ignore me all you like Luce, but I'm still punishing you when we get home. You disappeared without telling me."_

_Even with the promise of punishment, Luce still ignored Reborn. She might be the only person in the world who could get away with that. Well… get off without getting shot that is._

'_*bzzt*… I've hacked the security cameras like you asked Luce. I'm going back to work now. Don't bother me again. *krrzt*'_

_Luce looked down at the small handheld monitor on the branch next to her and nodded in satisfaction; she could see everything that was going on now._

"_Thanks Verde. But why aren't you going to watch? Don't you want to record this for your notes?" Luce asked, a pout heard in her voice._

'"_No. I do not care about the effects on normal civilians. This is not worth my time."'_

_And with that the line went dead._

_Reborn had to stop himself sighing once more. Really, this woman. Why did he follow her again?_

"_Really Luce… you've turned into a stalker."_

"_And proud of it!" She objected childishly. "Why isn't everyone else doing the same?!"_

"_Because this isn't that big a deal? You're overreacting." Maybe he should send her back to the Giglio Nero. Luce was never this sappy and silly when leading them. What was it about the Arcobaleno that had turned her into this?_

"_But this__** is**__ important Reborn! This is Tsunayoshi's first-"_

* * *

><p>As per usual, one could hear the sound of a fight before seeing it.<p>

"Che, wanna say that again, Birdy?"

"Hn. You are a puppy who only knows how to whine."

"Yaaah! Disappear, control freak!"

Tsunayoshi automatically covered his mouth with his jumper to combat the dust from the dynamite blast and ducked between the onlookers to see what was going on.

"What's the fight about this time?" Tsunayoshi asked when he finally got to the front.

"The Boss is having an argument with the DC Head. He thinks it's unfair that the First years aren't allowed to sit in the forest during lunch since the DC have taken it over. We're here to back him up."

Tsunayoshi nodded, that seemed like a fair reason for the fight. It was rather hot at the moment and the forest was the coolest place around. It was no wonder the DC had taken it over.

"Kufufufu~ The puppy is right there, Skylark." Mukuro chuckled from his place leaning against a wall. The Skylark had infuriated him ever since he had met the boy- admittedly not long ago, only since school had started, but that time was long enough.

"If Herbivores followed proper order then there would be no need for me to instil discipline." Kyoya growled, kicking one of the dynamites into the air, away from the other students.

Tsunayoshi sighed. If things had gotten down to name calling and personal ethos then it was time to intervene. Plus, Viper wouldn't be happy if the repair damage bill increased yet again. And it was always important to keep Viper happy.

"I had better stop this or else they'll be at it all day. I think Hayato's forgotten that Luce reduced his dynamite allowance again." Tsunayoshi sighed, a small pout on his face. Whilst it was clear that his friends liked fighting each other- and no doubt they were often baited by their followers to fight each other too- he didn't want any of them to get injured.

The people around- Hayato's First Year followers, some of which were classmates- looked at Tsunayoshi strangely at that remark. Hayato had limits on his Dynamite? That made it sound like pocket money. Plus, who handed out dynamites like they were sweets? Most people assumed he stole it from someone.

"Hayato, Kyoya, why can't you two share?" Tsunayoshi asked, loudly, talking over the shouting of the other students. Luce said that sharing was very important (although even the Arcobaleno hadn't mastered sharing between themselves yet.)

"Those at the top of the food chain do not share with those below." Kyoya replied confidently, smirking down at Hayato.

"But you're not at the top of the food chain either Kyoya." Tsunayoshi said aloud, a finger to his lips in thought. There were students older than Kyoya, and then there were all the adults too. If anyone was at the top, then it was going to be the Principal, right? Which of course, meant Reborn.

"Oh, you think you're higher up than the DC leader, do you?

Before anyone could react, one of the Discipline Committee had come up and pushed Tsunayoshi. Being unsuspecting of an attack from someone other than Kyoya, Tsunayoshi had been off balance, and went crashing into the wall.

Silence fell in the corridor.

Four pairs of hands grabbed the naughty member of the Committee and dragged him towards the exit.

"Don't follow." Warned Tetsuya, looking more dark and serious than his usual laid-back self. Hayato, Mukuro and Kyoya continued to drag the upperclassman out of the hallway, despite his protests.

"Guys…" Tsunayoshi sighed, watching the dramatic exit. Why was everyone around him so violent?

"A-are you okay, Tsunayoshi?" a girl asked him.

Tsunayoshi looked up and recognised it as Nina from his class. "Yeah, I'm okay thanks," He replied smiling.

The girl however gasped and grabbed his arm. "Ah! Your nose is bleeding. I'll take you to the nurse's office."

The walk to the nurse's office was rather quiet, the girl blushing and looking down at the blood, leading the way rather than standing next to him. Tsunayoshi had had enough nose bleeds by now to know what to do, but it would be nice to say hello to Dr Shamal.

They finally arrived at the nurse's office, and Tsunayoshi was about to open and walk in when Nina called his name.

"Um! Tsunayoshi…"

Tsunayoshi turned around and smiled at her as best as he could.

"Umm… I was wondering… well you were really brave telling those scary people to stop fighting and… you see… you're cute and sweet and a really nice person, so… umm… would you like to go out with me?"

Tsunayoshi noticed that Nina was blushing and could hardly look at him until she blurted the final bit out quite loudly. He didn't remember her as the quiet shy sort of person.

He smiled brightly and chirped "Sure! So, where would you like to go?"

Nina blushed even more, hiding behind her hair. _'Oh my god. He wants to go on a date already! How brave._'

"Well, would you like to come to the amusement park with me on Saturday?" Nina asked, gathering her courage once more.

"Wow, I haven't been to an amusement park before. I'd love to go!" The Arcobaleno were not the type to go to an amusement park- at least not altogether. Certain members wouldn't be seen dead there. Plus why pay all that money when they could play a horror shooting game made by Viper's illusions for free anyway? Who needed a bouncy castle, a maze or a playground when you had the CONSUBIM training grounds? Who needed a haunted house when you had the Vindice House?

Nina smiled, a rather pretty smile Tsunayoshi thought, and bounced in place. "Ah, okay then. Um, I'll meet you at the school gates at 10am then? My parents can take us from there. Okay then… um bye!"

And with that she ran off down the corridor without looking back.

"Wow, you're a natural charmer. You'll be almost as good as I am when you grow up."

That was Shamal, who had been eavesdropping, now leaning against the open door. He looked both impressed and smug. Obviously his Italian charms were rubbing off on the kid.

Tsunayoshi looked up and back at Shamal, confused about what Shamal had meant.

That's when Shamal sees the blood. "Ah damn it Chibi. Why didn't you tell me you were injured? Luce will kill me."

All thoughts of playboys and romantics went out the window as Shamal dragged the boy inside and took care of him. Considering just how many times Tsunayoshi ended up in his office with some kind of injury, Shamal really wished the boy was a cute girl- it would take the edge off. But he'd rather break his pride and treat a boy than be killed by Luce and Lal's lovely hands. His quest for hot sexy chicks would continue.

* * *

><p>"Wow! This place is huge!" gaped Tsunayoshi after walking in the amusement park's gates. There was just soooo much to see and so many people. There was music and people chatting and huge animal and superhero costumes and food and- and!<p>

Nina smiled and giggled. "I'm glad you like it. But it's much more fun once we get further in."

Tsunayoshi nodded before grabbing the girl's hand. "So we won't get separated." He explained when the girl blushed and looked embarrassed. He then turned to face Nina's parents and bowed politely to them. "Thank you for bringing me here~" He said, giving off one of his blinding smiles that could charm the socks off of even the hardest Mafioso.

Her parents stared for a second, blinded by the sparkles, assuming that the blooming flowers and balloons in the background were part of the amusement park. Didn't their daughter pick just the sweetest boy in existence? So polite too.

"It's no problem Tsunayoshi. We're glad to have you along. Please enjoy yourself here." Nina's mother replied. Tsunayoshi gave an agreement before turning and running in a random direction –'_this way looked cool~_'- dragging Nina after him.

'_He's holding my hand!_' Was all Nina could think as she squeezed his hand tighter and followed after him.

"_Wait! Where did they go? Geez Reborn, you're distracting me~"_

_Luce flicked through the feeds from the security cameras until she found her darling Tsunayoshi once more._

"_Skull they're coming your way!" Luce reported into her communication device._

"_Gyahahah! Skull-sama has totally got this!" He exclaimed before starting to hum the spy theme tune to himself._

"Ah! Tsunayoshi, look. It's Piyo-chan!" Nina squealed, dragging Tsunayoshi towards a large square whether he wanted to come or not. Tsunayoshi gladly followed, spotting what had caught her attention.

Tsunayoshi couldn't help but laugh as the girl screamed the yellow chick's name once again and barrelled into the person wearing the costume.

"_Piyo-Piyo-Piiiiyo-Piyo-Piyo-chan~ Piyo-chan no tamago, yorishiku desu~. Piyo-chan no tamago, hatsuba ichu~. Oishidesu yo~."_

There was theme tune music in the background, with Nina and Piyo-chan singing the song at least twice before Nina burst into giggles and clapped.

"Cheep cheep~. It looks like some of _Piyo-chan no tamago_ have arrived. Here take some of these, they're delicious desu~" The person in the costume said in a rather sing-song voice. They were holding a basket at the end of one of their wings, and held it out so that Nina and Tsunayoshi could grab some of the sweets advertised by the song.

"Thank you Piyo-chan!" Nina smiled. "I went to your last character show- the one at the end of HAYATO's concert. It was a shame that it had to be cancelled. I'm looking forwards to your next one though, I've already brought tickets!"

"Ahh… it was a shame the show was cancelled... Piyo-chan practiced sooo hard desu~. Piyo-chan looks forward to seeing you soon!" The giant chick said, still keeping up the sing-song voice. "Are _Piyo-chan no tamago_ having fun at the park? It's a lovely sunny day."

Nina laughed again- she had a rather nice laugh actually- and nodded vigorously. "Yeah, we are! We've been on lots of rides already."

"Ah, so you two are together. You look very cute together desu~ Piyo-chan approves!"

Nina blushed again- she seemed to be doing that a lot recently, maybe something was wrong with her?- and looked up with sparkling eyes. "You really think so Piyo-chan?!" The opinion of this large, walking, talking, singing yellow chick seemed rather important to her.

"Yup! Piyo-chan does! 1000% Percent! Do you like him, little _tamago_?" Piyo-chan asked, leaning forwards in anticipation.

Nina looked down and nodded shyly.

"And you, little _tamago_. Do you like her?" Piyo-chan asked, turning to face Tsunayoshi.

Tsunayoshi smiled. "Nina is a very nice person."

"Well that settles it then! Piyo-chan wishes you both luck!" The chick said jubilantly, waving it's wings around.

"_Piyo-Piyo-Piiiiyo-Piyo-Piyo-chan~ Piyo-chan no tamago, yorishiku desu~. Piyo-chan no tamago, hatsuba ichu~. Oishidesu yo~."_

"_Skull! You are in such trouble when we get home! You're not supposed to approve of them!" _

"_But Luce, why not? They looked cute together and Tsunayoshi seemed to be having fun."_

"_Aww, but I wanted him to be my little baby for a while longer yet~"_

"_Ahahaha… Luce, you're scaring me. Maybe Reborn-sempai should take you home"_

"_You shouldn't be worrying about me Skull. You're due on stage in 5 minutes~"_

"_What?! But I don't know any of the songs or words or anything. Luce, save me!"_

"Hey, Tsunayoshi, should we have a go on those? Maybe we can win something to take home."

They had been walking around for a little while now, going on any rides that looked interesting. Their choice of rides was limited of course, due to their young age and short stature. But there had still been plenty of rides for them to choose between. There had been merry-go-rounds and tea cups and a rollercoaster that looked like a dragon! They'd also gotten a little bit wet at one point, but it was sunny enough that they dried off quite quickly.

Now they were at a parade of stalls, doing fairground games. The one Nina had pointed at was a shooting range with lots of prizes around the place.

"Yeah, that one does look fun, let's go. Tsunayoshi agreed, running over to the stand, still holding Nina's hand. They had to stand on boxes to be tall enough to shoot properly, but that was okay.

"Hmm, this is a little heavy for me." Nina admitted, holding the gun awkwardly.

"Here, let me help." Tsunayoshi offered, standing behind Nina and helping her support the gun. "You want to look through this bit here for the best aim, take your time to aim, breath in and…"

**Bang!**

"Aww, we missed." Nina pouted.

"But I was sure that hit." Tsunayoshi objected, staring hard at the target before them. His aim wasn't that bad after all, and he'd even been following Lal and Colonnello's advice. Oh well. "Let's try again."

Nina nodded and pointed the gun back towards the target, Tsunayoshi's hands on hers to help hold and aim.

**Bang!**

"No, we missed again. Maybe this game really is for adults." Commented Nina, looking sad.

Tsunayoshi shook his head- they had hit it that time, he was sure.

"Well, we've got one last shot, so let's try once more." Tsunayoshi said encouragingly. Nina nodded, and aimed the gun once more.

"Three… two… one…"

**Bang!**

**Zip!**

"Yes! We did it!" Nina shouted, putting the gun down before jumping up and down. "Tsunayoshi look, we did it!"

Tsunayoshi looked blankly at the target for a second. He was sure he had seen something back wizz past them and hit the target. Strange. "So which prize did you want Nina?" He asked, smiling at the happy girl.

"Umm… that one…" Nina said after some deliberation, choosing to go with a rather fluffy brown lion cub.

"How about we try that one next? We can see who can fill the balloon quicker~"

"_Ha! Look at that shot, kora. Perfect!"_

"_So you can hit a stationary target whilst moving at a stupidly slow speed. Did you want a gold star?"_

_Lal and Colonnello were currently riding the Ferris wheel, almost at the top. _

"_Well, if you're offering a reward then… you know what you're supposed to do when the carriage reaches the zenith, right?"_

_Lal blushed, her hands curling into fists. "You even try that and I'll chuck you out of here and let you fall all the way to the ground, brat."_

"Excuse me, little Miss."

Tsunayoshi and Nina stopped when they heard a gruff voice addressing them. After turning around they find that it's a police officer. But this officer was a little strange, despite having large sunglasses, a moustache and a deep gruff voice, the guard also seemed to have cleavage … of the female kind…

"Yes sir?" Nina said, starting to look a little scared. They hadn't done anything wrong, right?

"I'm going to need to check your bag." The Officer replied, holding a hand out, waiting for the item.

"A-ah… okay…" Nina said, looking suspicious, but handing her bag over anyway- this person looked official despite the weirdness. Maybe they were dressing up as part of the atmosphere?

Both Tsunayoshi and Nina were surprised when the officer pulled out some handcuffs and clicked them around Nina's petit wrists.

"Hey! What's that for?!" Tsunayoshi shouted, trying to push the officer away.

"You are under arrest for theft and grand larceny." The officer replied.

"Theft? But Nina didn't steal anything. She'd never do that. What did she steal? Show me!" Tsunayoshi insisted. Nina wasn't the type of person to steal something and there was definitely something wrong with this police officer.

The police officer froze for a second, as if unable to answer the question_. 'For stealing him!'_

Which was when yet another pair of handcuffs came into the fray. But this time they were around the wrists of the 'police officer'.

"You are coming with us. You're under arrest on charges of disguising as a police officer, stalking and suspicion of paedophilia."

This time it was two very real looking police officers, complete with shiny badges. "We are sorry for any inconvenience this person has caused you today." The other police officer said, addressing Tsunayoshi and Nina, undoing the handcuffs and returning Nina's bag to her. " Let's go find your parents, shall we?"

Tsunayoshi and Nina nodded, wanting to get as far away from the weirdo as possible, and started to follow the police officer to the entrance where they were going to meet Nina's parents anyway.

Yet as they were leaving, they couldn't help but hear the cries of the impostor. Wait! I'm that boy's guardian. I'm not anyone suspicious. Please let me go."

"Like we'd believe any of that." Scoffed the police officer. "We've had reports all day of a strange woman- sitting in a tree with binoculars and surveillance equipment, hiding in a bush, sabotaging the haunted house and other accounts. It seems like you've been following those children all day. We don't like people like you."

"No please, you don't understand!" The woman cried.

"Be quiet. We'll listen to your story down at the station."

* * *

><p>"So then Tsunayoshi, how was your day at the amusement park?" Fon asked, giving the boy a glass of juice since he had just returned home.<p>

"It was awesome!" Tsunayoshi said, grinning. He went into a detailed tale of his adventure today, hands waving in his excitement to explain everything to Fon.

"It sounds like your date went very well then Tsunayoshi." Fon said, smiling softly.

Tsunayoshi looked back confused. "Date? What's that?"

Fon blinked. "Well, you said she asked you if you 'want to go out'. This means she was asking you on a date. She wants to be your girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? That's the thing where you like a girl lots and lots and think you want to be together forever right. Luce and Lal and Viper are my girlfriends, right?"

Fon laughed. "I think we've been over this, but you can't go around calling them your girlfriends, people will get the wrong idea. A girlfriend isn't a member of your family- well not until you get married. But she was saying that she likes you a lot, enough to want to spend lots of time with you."

"Oh. Is that why she kept blushing all the time and acting shy? Lots of adults asked us today if we like each other. She even kissed me on the cheek as I got out of the car. I held her hand all day and helped her with the gun, and hugged her when we screamed from the rides…"

Fon sighed. "I think you might need to tell her that you just want to be friends and that you didn't understand she was asking you to be her boyfriend." Young children never really understood these things anyway, but it was cute to watch.

"_Piyo-Piyo-Piiiiyo-Piyo-Piyo-chan~ Piyo-chan no tamago, yorishiku desu~. Piyo-chan no tamago, hatsuba ichu~. Oishidesu yo~."_

Tsunayoshi looked up at the rather familiar tune to see Skull walking in through the front door.

"Skull, you're back!" Tsunayoshi shouted, running over to hug the stuntman. "You know, I heard that song a lot today. Nina really likes Piyo-chan."

Skull just laughed nervously. If the force of her hug was anything to go by, she _loved_ Piyo-chan.

"Where is Luce? Weren't you two going somewhere today together?"

Reborn gave a short sharp laugh as he closed the door behind himself. "Luce won't be home tonight. She's spending the night in a police cell."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you all enjoyed that little bit of craziness! And once more, lots of luck to everyone taking exams, assessments, etc! Hopefully this chapter was a little bit of stress relief!<strong>

**This is un-proof read because it's too late at night /early in the morning and I'm tired. **

**Also if anyone is going to the London ComicCon today (Friday) I hope to see you there. I'm dressing up as a Splicer from Bioshock complete with mask and weapons and lots and lots of blood. So if you see me, make sure to shout out~**

**See everyone next time.**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First Published 23 May 2014**


	99. In a Safe Environment

**Chapter 99**

**In A Safe Environment**

**For those of you who were wondering, Piyo-chan is from Uta No Prince-Sama. There were a few other hints, such as being '1000% percent' sure, and going to HAYATO's concert (not a reference to my darling Gokudera). You can find Piyo-chan's song on Youtube, although I ended up humming it all the next day. **

**In case I haven't explained/ you haven't noticed, there is a random amount of time between each of these school chapters. Unless stated otherwise, they are not usually the next day- the first few chapters were, but these more random ones are spaced out.**

* * *

><p>Rather strangely, all of the Arcobaleno seemed to be busy today. Colonello and Lal were off doing a special training session with her trainees, Reborn was off being sneaky sneaky, Viper was getting even <em>more<em> money somehow, Skull was at a gig in Australia, Bermuda was being a boss, Fon had gone to visit the Triads at China and Luce had dragged Verde to some science conference thing he was supposed to talk at.

Which meant that none of them were around to pick Tsunayoshi and the others up.

Tsunayoshi supposed it wasn't actually that strange, all the Arcobaleno were very busy and sort-after people after all, but it hadn't happened in a while. However there was something even stranger than the Arcobaleno's absences.

The people who came to pick them up…

"_Ciao bella_, how about we go on a date later~?"

"Those need to be delivered by 5PM… Of course I'm not going to be there _idiota_. The Lightning Capo will… I don't care whether you like that or not. Vongola can always find a new dealer for our guns…. Heh, that's what I thought."

"Oooh~ that shop had some cool stuff. Do you think the Old Man would buy it for me?"

The three Vongola Heirs- Massimo, Fredrico and Enrico.

Tsunayoshi would have understood if Nono had come pick him up because the man had a soft spot for him for some reason. But his sons…?

"Hey, brats, all of you in here now." Said Fredrico, holding open the door to a café.

The group of children cheered and rushed inside, immediately taking over the area with soft cushy couches. However, the three adults hadn't been very nice to them so far, ordering them around, ignoring them, telling them off. So all the children had decided to make things as difficult for the three as possible. After all, none of them held allegiance to Vongola and therefore had no reason to be on their best behaviour. Plus, those three were a lot of fun to mess with. Massimo turned lots of funny shades when he got angry.

So the children were as loud as possible, running all over the place.

"I want a cola!"

"You know, Luce would have brought us cake too."

"Maa maa, would you mind grabbing that for me, I can't quite reach up there."

"Hello pretty lady. Can I have a milkshake please?"

Finally, after a good ten minutes, everyone was settled with drinks and snacks, laughing and giggling at the three adults.

"They're not much like Nono are they? You wouldn't think they are his sons." Takeshi commented, sipping on his Namimori Milk.

"Che, wouldn't want Vongola to be under any of their care. Well maybe Fredrico, but certainly not the other two. Stupid Mafioso." Scoffed Hayato, glaring at the trio. None of them were good enough to look after Tsunayoshi-sama. Not at all.

"Kufufufu~ considering who our guardians are, I would have thought they'd take better care of us. Maybe a spider in their coffee would scare some sense into them?" Mukuro chuckled, smiling creepily.

"Mukuro! No!" Tsunayoshi squealed, recoiling in fear at the thought. That was scary to even think about! Ken was laughing his head off instead, amusement glinting in Chikusa's eyes. They had, after all, eaten worse things than spiders in the Estraneo.

"Oi, brat."

The gruff voice silenced the lively conversation about spiders and coffee- thankfully conversation had spilt into two different directions, leaving the spider out of the coffee cup- and the whole group turned to face the voice of Massimo. They had been addressed as little other than brat, whether collectively or individually, so no one actually knew who was being spoken to.

"Tsunayoshi, if you will," Fredrico said, waving a hand in the direction on the empty chair at their table. Tsunayoshi smiled and extracted himself from Mukuro and Haru's arms before walking over and clambering on the chair. Fredrico was the nicest of the three, everyone agreed.

"Aaah, I both believe it and can't at the same time." Enrico growled, rubbing his hands through his hair, looking Tsunayoshi up and down.

"Indeed, the familial resemblance isn't very much." Fredrico agreed, looking up from his notebook. The eye colour, hair colour, all of it was wrong.

"But the resemblance to _him _is uncanny." Pointed out Massimo, the other two nodding in agreement.

Tsunayoshi had no clue what this conversation was about, or how he related to it, despite it seeming to be about him.

"From what data I've gathered from stories and recounts, Tsunayoshi seems to have the bloodline traits too." Fredrico added, flicking through the many pages of his note book outlining all these examples. "It seems very strong in him, stronger than usual; it might even be stronger than Father's when he grows up." The two other brothers look at Fredrico unbelievingly, before remembering the few stories they had heard.

"You can't forget either that everyone on the island seems to love him, or at least bears him. The boy seems to have friends from everywhere." Massimo commented. From the Arcobaleno and Vindice right down to the servants in the houses and Mafia Row Central. "No one's been this liked and accepting in the Mafia since…"

"_Him."_ Finished Enrico.

"And _He_ seems to like Tsunayoshi very much. It wouldn't surprise me if _He_ knows something we don't." Fredrico said, his voice more dark than heard previously by Tsunayoshi. The little boy was starting to get the feeling that these people didn't like him very much. Although why, he wasn't sure, it wasn't like he saw them too often since they were always out and about Italy trying to run Vongola for Nono.

"You don't think… that maybe _He_ would… **give it** to the brat, do you?" Massimo asked, looking angry, offended and maybe slightly scared.

Enrico scoffed, picking up his drink once more. "Of course not. After all, **I'm** the current favourite." And he'd be damned if anyone was going to take it from him. He hadn't bribed and killed all those people for nothing.

Fredrico didn't say anything, just pushing his glasses up his nose. He wasn't going to tell his stupid egotistical brothers that he was their Father's favourite to gain the coveted prize, not them.

… And then there was always _Xanxus_ to consider…

"Well, I'll just prove to _Him_ that I'm the best choice, not you or that little brat." Massimo preened, a self-assured smirk on his face.

"Umm…"

The three men turned from their usual brotherly squabbles to the little child who had just interrupted them.

"Can I ask who 'He' is?" Tsunayoshi said in a small voice. It was hard to follow this conversation when he didn't know who was being talked about, and he really wanted to know since his name kept on coming up. Plus it was kind of rude to invite him here and then not include him in the conversation.

"Primo-sama, of course."

They were talking about Giotto?

"Why are you comparing me to Giotto?" Tsunayoshi asked, tilting his head in question.

"That's Giotto-sama to you, brat." Massimo hissed, looking like he was going to hit Tsunayoshi if the boy said it wrong again.

"You should show more respect to Vongola's ****ing founder, brat." Growled Enrico, looking angry too. Primo-sama deserved the upmost respect, even from a brat like Tsunayoshi.

Unlike usual, Tsunayoshi didn't feel comfortable telling these people off for their naughty language, he was a little scared of them. These were some of the few- really _really_ few- people he never got those 'feelings' about in his head. No inkling at all other than the fact they were Nono's sons and Vongola Heirs. So he had no clue how to handle them, how explosive they were, whether they were likely to hit him or not. So he did his best to not annoy them.

Luckily, Fredrico acted for him.

"Mind your language idiot." He said, smacking his brother over the head with his notebook none too lightly. "You know what Lady Luce's like with swearing around the boy. You saw what she did to the Varia to make them stop." All three shivered. That had not been a pretty sight. Not at all. The worst thing was it had worked too- maybe the Varia wanted the boy to be theirs that badly.

Massimo ignored the squabble going on between his other two brothers and instead turned to Tsunayoshi, a fierce look on his face.

"Know that we're watching you, _boy._ We know _exactly_ who you are and we've seen straight through the 'Advisor's' plan. Find a stupid, gullible woman who wouldn't ask questions about his job or long absences, knock her up and produce a kid and win the Prize. He's probably annoyed that he wasn't born with the right Flame to claim it himself. As if we'd let him. So don't go thinking you're a dark horse or somethin', because I'd kill you before you could even get your grubby mitts on it. Just because you're the Arcobaleno's kid doesn't mean I won't find a way."

Because in the Mafia, it was perfectly natural to kill to get what you wanted.

Oooh, these people were scary! What did he do to them to warrant this? He wanted to go back to the others and away from them! Actually…

Remembering what both Reborn and Fon had told him, Tsunayoshi looked up at the three people that seemed to hate him and…

Smiled.

"_If you're ever in a situation where someone is threatening you, then just smile at them. Since they won't be expecting it, they'll freeze confused for a second, which should be enough for you to start your escape."_

"You're not doing a very good job at watching. Isn't it a little too quiet in here?"

The three adults frowned. It was indeed very quiet in here. So they turned to where the brat's entourage should be and found… no one.

Annoyed, they turned back to the brat before them, only to find him gone too and the chime of the bell above the door ringing in their ears.

The waitress was suddenly privy to a range of expletives that she wasn't sure she'd ever heard before or were even anatomically possible.

* * *

><p>"Tsunayoshi, are you okay?" Kyoko asked as Tsunayoshi reached where the others had run off to. "It didn't look like a very nice talk."<p>

"Haru should have gone over there and shouted at them! Mamma is really good at shouting so Haru is too desu~" The brunette chirped, rolling up her sleeves with a determined pout on her face. Takeshi laughed and quickly placed a hand on her head to stop her going back to the café.

Tsunayoshi smiled at everyone around, finally relaxing, glad to be safe and around people he loved rather than those three meanies.

"Don't worry, I'm fine now that I'm with you guys." Replied Tsunayoshi, giving out an especially sunny gracious smile. "If they're really mean then I can always get their Daddy to shout at them." Tsunayoshi just knew somehow that Nono could be scary when giving tellings-off- he'd never experienced it himself, but it was another one of those feelings.

"Hey, how about we go to the park byon!"Ken said, bouncing up and down slightly. "Then we can forget about those people and have some fun!"

Chikusa sighed as everyone turned to look at Ken. "How troublesome."

"Is not!" Ken shouted back, offended. "I'd rather wait forever at the park for the Arcobaleno to pick us up than spend another second with those rubbish adults."

Chikusa, Mukuro and Tsunayoshi shared looks, Tsunayoshi hiding a smile. They all knew why Ken wanted to go to the park, and it wasn't because of the Vongola trio's unbearableness. After being locked up for so long Ken would rather be outside at all times and used every opportunity he could to go somewhere outside with grass or trees. It was an understandable desire considering the effects of Ken's animal genes on his tastes and actions. Being trapped inside had been almost torture.

Plus they hadn't been to the park in a while.

"Sounds good. We could play catch!" Takeshi grins, knowing he had a baseball in his bag with him.

"Or we could play Mafia and Vindice!" Haru giggled. Mafia and Vindice was their version of cops and robbers and was basically a team based game of chase. "I get to be on Tsunayoshi's team!"

"Shut up girl. Tsunayoshi-sama doesn't want to be slowed down by you." Hayato growled, frowning at Haru with crossed arms.

"Hahi! Haru can run faster than you~!"

"Heh. Bring it!"

"Kufufu, she might be right you know, Hayato." Mukuro entered with an amused grin, always taking the opportunity to rile up the volatile silveret.

Hayato turned and growled at Mukuro. "I can catch you easily Mukuro."

"Oya, you think you can catch a trained assassin like me? I'd like to see you try, boy."

So… it seemed like they were off to the park then- with or without his say. Tsunayoshi really didn't mind going, as long as it made everyone happy.

The arguments and planning of games continued as the children walked towards the park closest to the school, not too far from where they were currently.

"And that's when I scored my EXTREME third goal! It was like the other team weren't even trying!" Ryohei shouted excitedly, telling a story from his class' PE session earlier.

"Che, running away from either you two idiots when you have projectiles is common sense. You'll kill someone with a football one day." Hayato grumbled- having learned the hard way not to play baseball with the baseball idiot. Those two clearly didn't know their own strength and flung whatever sports balls they were using with dangerous speeds. Running away from the ball was safer than trying to block it.

Tsunayoshi was only half listening to the conversations around him, especially since there were so many going on. Instead he was looking around at the scenery. Being in a 'normal' city for so long had been a learning curve since it was very different from Mafia Row. The houses were a lot smaller, and some didn't even have gardens. The common sounds were cars and adverts rather than gunshots or the sound of the sea. The designs of Japanese buildings was different from the Italian mansions.

But even here in the city there was variation.

Tsunayoshi stopped to look at a house that was different from the rest. It was clearly older than all the other houses around, although well kept. Instead of normal doors, these ones were the sliding kind that he had seen in Tsuyoshi's sushi shop. None of the other shops and houses around had those. However despite its differences, the house- actually, it might be a shop, Tsunayoshi wasn't sure- seemed rather normal. He wasn't sure why he had stopped to stare at it. It wasn't particularly pretty or awe-inspiring, just different.

Oh dear, he'd spent so much time looking at this house that the others had gone on without him! How could they forget him? With a sigh, Tsunayoshi ran in the direction they were heading. The route was simple anyway, take a left here, straight across here and then a right aaaannd…

Huh?

He should have been at the park by now. Hmm, maybe he had taken a wrong turning? He had a habit of getting his right and left mixed up sometimes. So he turned back around and took the other turning, hoping this would lead him back to where he wanted to be.

But instead he ended up back at that house.

So he had gone in a circle then? Hmm, that was strange. His sense of direction was usually pretty good, especially considering the amount of time he spent navigating a forest with Lal, Colonello and the COMSUBIN. Let's try again.

But no.

"Oh dear little one. You look more lost than a mouse in a labyrinth."

Tsunayoshi turned to find the sliding doors of that house open and an old man leaning against them. The man was smiling sweetly at him and Tsunayoshi couldn't help but smile sheepishly in return.

"Yeah, I was on my way to the park with my friends but I seem to have gotten lost." He admitted.

"Ah, easily done," The man agreed before laughing softly. "Although I find there is fun to be had in getting lost. Most adventures and discoveries start by getting lost."

"But getting lost alone isn't much fun." Tsunayoshi pouted. He'd feel better if everyone else was with him.

"But you're the kind of person who will never be alone. People with your special quality are never alone for long." The man stated plainly, as if it was a fact.

Tsunayoshi hummed, thinking. It was rather true; he was never alone for very long. He was friends with all the children on Mafia Row, and nearly all the adults liked him. The Arcobaleno were always around too, sometimes following him sneakily sneakily, and after the time at the amusement park, he knew Verde could see through security cameras too- he had seen the feed on Verde's computers after he had gotten back, Verde had forgotten to turn them off, too engrossed in his other project.

"Most people envy your special quality- even if they don't know what it is- and see it as a virtue. But for someone like you, I know it'll be a curse." However instead of looking sad as the statement would imply, the man chuckled to himself.

Tsunayoshi looked confused, not understanding what the old man was going on about. "Umm…"

The man looked up and smiled once again. "No worries. I thought you might have understood already considering certain troublesome members of your friends, but I guess not. You'll understand better in the future. Time clears most problems."

The man stood, his kimono swaying, and walked over to Tsunayoshi. "Let's get you to the park. Your guardians wouldn't be happy if you were lost for long, and I'd rather stay on their good side."

Tsunayoshi nodded and followed the man through the shops and houses until they finally stopped. Tsunayoshi could hear the sound of his friends nearby.

"I will leave you here. I look forwards to our next meeting little one." The man said, smiling once again.

"Yeah. See you soon~" Chirped Tsunayoshi, waving a goodbye as he ran off in the direction of his friends.

"TSUNAAAYOSHIII-SAMAAAA!" Tsunayoshi gasped as Hayato hurtled into him, hugging him tightly. "I'm so glad you're back!"

"Kufufu~ you're not allowed to get lost without my permission, Tsunayoshi. There aren't enough hungry ghosts here for me to track you with."

"You had Haru worried to death, desu~!"

Tsunayoshi tried to smile and reassure them, but the looks on their faces were rather scary.

This was about to be an extremely one sided game of Mafia and Vindice.

* * *

><p><strong>Aaah, the foreshadowing~ I love it. So much of this chapter is connected to future events both near and far, so keep an eye on it. <strong>

**Next chapter is chapter 100- wow~. I'll be running a ****competition**** for that chapter so make sure to get your friends to read it too!**

**See all you lovely people next time- and if anyone happens to find my motivation, please chain it up and send it back. Thanks XD**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**First published 21 August 2014 **

**PS. Anyone here play League of Legends? Isn't Gnar soo frickin' cute! I could cuddle him to death- or until he transforms on me XP I love his voice track, Demagliooo~!**


	100. Learning From Mistakes

Chapter 100

Learning From Mistakes

_**100th Chapter! Wooooooo!**_

**Thanks for all the wonderful comments you guys. It's lovely to know there are still readers despite my inconsistencies ^^"**

**This chapter is based around a request from a reviewer when I asked for chapter ideas last arc. Also a lot of you have been asking me to write little Tsunayoshi being ill. I have an idea on how to turn that into a plot point, so it'll probably appear either next arc or most likely the arc after that. You can't say I don't listen to my reviewers- you all shape this fic sooooo much, so don't be afraid to ask for things- even if they will take a while to fit in.**

* * *

><p>This was not good.<p>

The room was silent apart from the constant scratching of pencils.

"_This is not good! Not good!"_

"_What am I worrying about?"_

The teacher was at the front of the class, keeping an ever watchful eye on the students.

Tsunayoshi peeked up and took a look at the others around the room. Hayato was sat there trying to balance a pencil on his nose. Takeshi was already sleeping, arms crossed on the desk to pillow his head. Even from here he could see that the two mechanic-prodigies were drawing robot designs. At least Haru and Kyoko were still writing though.

"_Aaah! Why does everyone make this look so easy?!"_

"_So maybe I should be finished too?"_

Tsunayoshi looked back down at the piece of paper in front of him. He shouldn't be scared of this piece of paper. But he was. His breath had picked up, his chest squeezing tightly, his thoughts were a mess and his hands were sweating.

"_These teachers must hate us, making us do these so often! They're stupid and unfair and, and, pure torture! I hate doing-"_

"_What's wrong with me? I shouldn't be scared of this. Why, it's only-"_

"**A Test."**

Tsunayoshi didn't understand where this inherent fear of tests had come from. He had been perfectly fine all day, in good health and laughing with his friends. But then the teacher had asked for quiet and explained that they were going to be taking something called a 'test'. That's when dread had filled his body, something heavy settling in his stomach as if his doom had rode up to laugh in his face.

Voices had run through his head, patronising laughter, smug remarks and taunting. Nothing was clear or understandable, just the feelings and intonation of voice. But that was enough. That was enough to make him wary and scared. The feeling had gotten worse and worse as silence had settled and the papers had been handed out.

He wasn't going to do well on this test.

The thought ran through his head like it was a fact- one that seemed to be turning out true. He was going to fail this test and that was all there was to it.

"Pencils down everyone. Time is up."

_"What! No, no! It can't be!... ahh, not like it'd matter anyway..."_

_"Ah, I finished that just in time!"_

Tsunayoshi sighed and wiped the back of his hand across his slightly damp forehead. The panic was fading now, left with a morose, hopeless feeling. There was nothing he could do now but wait for the results.

Hayato scoffed as if glad that the waste of time was finally over, Takeshi yawned, stretched and blinked sleepily, looking around now that the room had suddenly gotten noisier with the sound of students' chattering, Fran slowly lowered his hand on whatever illusion he'd been entertaining himself with, the illusionary creature making little screeching noises as if actually getting crushed.

"Class dismissed. You can all go for lunch now." The teacher said, smiling at them all.

Slowly Tsunayoshi put his pencil away and packed his bag, trying to sort out in his head what exactly had just happened.

"That was... scary... I don't think I like tests..." Enma said, standing next to Tsunayoshi's desk, looking a little stressed too.

Tsunayoshi couldn't help but agree. He didn't think he liked tests either. At least he wasn't the only one.

There weren't going to be more of these... right?

* * *

><p>This was not good.<p>

Not good at all.

A few days later and they had gotten their tests back.

Cross after cross, more red ink than green, and a sad face in the top corner.

Tsunayoshi knew it was bad to get more things wrong that you did right. Things weren't supposed to work that way. The teacher hadn't even been able to read some of his answers, his handwriting illegible as his hand shook from nervousness. Hell, even he couldn't read half of what he had written. He had utterly failed this test.

He couldn't show this to the Arcobaleno. He couldn't show this to anybody. Verde would not be impressed with such a bad test score. He would have disappointed Verde. He wouldn't be able to put one of those rare smiles on Verde's face. Lal did not tolerate failure either. She would slap him senseless like she did to Colonnello and the other recruits sometimes. Bermuda didn't like people failing him. Tsunayoshi had heard lots of complaints from the Vendice about how childishly mean and sadistic Bermuda could be with those who he was not pleased with.

And Reborn...

Tsunayoshi sniffed back tears. He didn't like this feeling, knowing he was going to disappoint those that mattered most to him. He didn't want to see the faces of the Arcobaleno when they found out. Maybe he could rip up the test, or hide it somewhere? Somewhere where no one would ever find it? Although that was pretty impossible considering just who he was trying to hide this horrid piece of paper from.

Hmm, he would have to think about that. But one thing was for certain, he wasn't going back to the Arcobaleno House. He wanted to put off disappointing them for as long as possible.

So when he arrived back on Mafia Row, he thanked Dino and Dino's driver with a smile, assuring Dino that he'd come around to play sometime soon (and yes, Reborn would not be invited, or anywhere near by, no bullets were going to be involved), before turning and walking away from the gate of their house.

"Tsunayoshi-sama, where are you going?" Hayato asked, noticing that Tsunayoshi hadn't immediately run towards the Arcobaleno House like he did whenever someone other than an Arcobaleno picked them up from school.

"Oh... um... I'm just going to...to...pick some flowers for Mamma Luce." Tsunayoshi quickly lied, a smile plastered onto his face as he slowly walked away from them.

"That's a wonderful idea Tsunayoshi-sama. Allow me to help!" Hayato quickly said, eager to be of any help to Tsunayoshi.

"No!" Tsunayoshi shouted, wincing at Hayato's hurt look. "That is... it's something I wanna do by myself..."

"Kufufu, it's not a heartfelt present if someone else does it for you now, is it Hayato? How inconsiderate of you." Mukuro purred condescendingly, smirking at Hayato, before grabbing the collar of his uniform and dragging him away. "Come now you little stalker, I do believe it's your turn to help Lanchia with dinner preparations."

Tsunayoshi watched his friends walk away, arguing loudly like they always did, knowing it hurt to lie to them too.

"Tsunayoshi." The boy looked up to see Mukuro looking at him. "Don't stray too far. You never know what monster might be waiting to eat you up." And with that turned and continued walking towards the Arcobaleno House.

Tsunayoshi blinked and looked confused for a few moments, before turning and wandering off, in the opposite direction to everyone else.

* * *

><p>"Hmhmmm~ So this is where the little princess had hidden herself, hmm?"<p>

Tsunayoshi jerked and looked up, surprised that anyone had found him here. It wasn't exactly the most visited of locations, a small cave on the black sand beach near the Vendicare. He hadn't even heard footsteps signalling someone's approach.

"Byakuran..." mumbled Tsunayoshi, confused as to why Byakuran was here.

"You know, I think this might be the universe where the Arcobaleno have the longest and most drawn out death. Surely their hearts will cease to function, too often worrying and stressing over their little treasure. How you haven't given our dear Lady Luce a heart attack already I surely do not know." Byakuran grinned and settled on the floor next to Tsunayoshi, observing the younger one carefully, aware of every movement and change of expression.

Tsunayoshi was, is and will always be rather easy to read, even when older with a well practiced face of stone. But then again, Byakuran did have an advantage over everyone else, didn't he?

The war on the little boy's face was cute, the conflicting desire to run from and return to the Arcobaleno. Tsunayoshi's loyalty to others always amazed Byakuran, especially when it ended up hurting him quite often. It was something that was in Tsunayoshi's very essence, something that rarely changed between worlds, between histories and circumstance.

"Go away Byakuran." Tsunayoshi ordered, hiding his face in his knees. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, nor be reminded of the Arcobaleno. They were going to tell him off for not returning home after school, especially if what Byakuran had said was true. He felt bad about making them worry, but he just couldn't face them right now.

"Oh I don't think you want me to do that, Tsu-chan." Byakuran purred. "Because for one, I know you don't like being alone." It was the little boy's fate to be surrounded by others, whether he wanted the attention or not, especially in those dimensions where he came into power.

"But I want to be alone." Came the muffled mulish reply.

Byakuran ignored him. "And second," he continued, leaning against Tsunayoshi and nuzzling his cheek against the fluffy hair. "I know exactly why you're like this."

Byakuran leant backwards and smirked when he got the desired reaction: Tsunayoshi's head darting up and glossy caramel eyes staring widely at him. _Aaah_, that look warmed Byakuran, those wide eyes vulnerable, powerless and lost, pleading Byakuran to give him the answers he so desired. Byakuran planned to see much more of that look in the future.

Byakuran chuckled. "Want me to leave now~?" His voice a sly purr, knowing exactly what the answer would be.

"You're lying." Tsunayoshi whispered, voice quivering. "You can't know what this is like..." Although his voice wasn't very sure.

Byakuran raised an eyebrow before smoothing his features out.

"Voices in your head. You know it belongs to you but it's not yours. That voice is panicking, screaming at you that you hate tests and that you're going to fail. It's positive. It knows you're going to fail so why bother even trying? Your hands quiver in nervousness. Your brain churns away but all you get is a frustrated scream. You're just Dame-Tsuna, you can't do this."

The boy was staring at him as if he were some kind of god. He was probably wondering if Byakuran had a way into his head like his beloved Mammon did.

Byakuran smirked again. He had the boy hook, line and sinker.

"But why is that voice saying those things with such certainty Tsu-chan? Think. No one calls you Dame-Tsuna. You've never taken a test before so how do you know you're going to fail it? The greatest scientific mind in the world brought you up, you had no reason to think you were going to fail."

After a pause to let the boy consider all that, Byakuran leant forwards, a mysterious look on his face.

"So then. What was that? Hmm?"

Byakuran stood, noting how Tsunayoshi watched his every move, enraptured by him and his words, _that_ look on the angelic features again.

It was time to leave.

"Byakuran wait!" Tsunayoshi shouted as Byakuran walked towards the entrance of the cave. He scrambled up and after Byakuran when the white haired boy didn't stop. "Byakuran, tell me what's wrong with me!"

Byakuran stopped but didn't turn around. He wanted to, but he knew he'd see that needy, weak expression again. He wanted Tsunayoshi in his arms, cuddling him close, but he knew a part of him would want to cuddle too hard, squeeze too tightly, lovingly crush him to death, and Byakuran didn't want that.

'_Shut up shut up shut up!'_

"I've given you the answer already Tsu-chan." Byakuran sung. "The answer is in here" he continued pointing to his head. "You'll understand eventually. When you do, come find me. I can help you deal with it."

"Byakuran..." Tsunayoshi whispered, hearing something strange in Byakuran's voice. There was a feeling just outside his reach, something important, but he just couldn't grab it.

Byakuran laughed, all trace of that strange note in his voice gone. "I do hope that your vocabulary is broader than just my name, Tsu-chan. You should be glad that test wasn't a vocab one. And speaking of tests, I wouldn't be so worried about the Arcobaleno's reaction. They're not going to hate you for that. I would have thought you knew that best."

With that said, Byakuran continued to walk away across the black sand of the Vendicare beach.

"Oh, but I would be worried about the arrival of your Dark Knight. He's been watching us ever since you chased me out here. Time to face the music Tsu-chan~"

Tsunayoshi looked up and around until he finally noticed the black, top hatted figure standing on the top of the Vendicare.

Then it disappeared in a black portal.

Uh-oh.

He was in such trouble.

* * *

><p><strong>So remember last chapter when I said I had a competition for the 100<strong>**th**** chapter? Well, we're pushing that to the side for a little while because there's something MUCH more important for you all!**

**For the third year running we're hosting the KHR Secret Santa! I'm co-hosting it so you'll be seeing it mentioned a lot in upcoming chapters.**

**If you want to join in then follow the link on my profile page!**

**For those who have never participated before, the Secret Santa is a game where KHR fans write fics for each other for Christmas. Follow the link and you'll be asked to submit a wishlist. This is where you write what characters or pairings you want, what genre and other such details. Then on December 1****st**** Mockingjay Rose and I will take the names of people who are participating and randomly match them up with someone else. You'll receive a PM from one of us telling you who you're being Santa for. So then you go back to the wishlist and write the fic that person has asked for. Then you post it on December 25****th**** and post the link to your fic in the forum. **

**It's a whole lot of fun and we usually get quite a few big names from the KHR fandom entering (so you know, you might get a fic written by someone **_**famous**_** *hint hint*). **

**I had better see a whole LOT of you there or else! So would you **_**kindly**_** go and enter right this second~? (and anyone who got that reference is awesome XD)**

**See you next chapter**

**Phantom Hitman 1412**

**Posted 8th November 2014**


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